Silent Screams in the Night
by gatemedic
Summary: Welcome to the SGC Anna Kathleen Bergman. You're gonna love it here. And by the way, a guy from your past is already here. And a very close friend is shocked by your arrival on base.
1. Chapter 1

_Silent Screams In the Night-1 _

_Chapter 1 _

_ Janet Fraser lowered her head to hide her amusement. To say that the SGC was populated by heavily armed children was a massive understatement. Sometimes she felt more like she was running a daycare facility, instead of an infirmary in a top secret military base. She raised her head and met the amused blue eyes across the table from her. Sam Carter was openly grinning now. Colonel O'Neill and Daniel Jackson were at it again. Even Teal'c had a slightly amused look on his face, if you knew what to look for. General Hammond though, had finally had enough._

"_Colonel O'Neill!" Hammond barked, "That is enough! Dr. Jackson, I've heard enough from you as well." Hammond was definitely frustrated with his premier SG team. Daniel looked slightly affronted with a "he started it" expression. Jack was smirking, as only Jack O'Neill could. Yes, Janet thought, O'Neill put the __smirk_ in smirking. Hammond cleared his throat, took a deep breath in and slowly let it out.

"Doctor Fraser, do you have anything else to add that would be helpful with this case?

Janet smoothed her face back into her professional mask.

"No sir, not at this time. However, I expect to be kept up to date with anything that can advance this issue and-" Staff Sergeant Walter Harriman bustled into the room.

"Sorry to interrupt sirs, and mams, but Dr. Fraser has an urgent call from the main gate. You can pick up on line two mam." And just as quickly as he entered, Walter departed. Janet pushed back from the table.

"Excuse me sir, I'll try to make it quick." Hammond nodded his agreement, and the table buzz started up again. Janet reached for one of the two phones sitting on the side table, next to the coffee carafes, the ice bucket with bottled water, and the tray of muffins and assorted pastries.

"Fraser". Janet listened intently to the disembodied voice on the other end of the line. "Who? How long have they been there?" A brief pause. "Why didn't you call me or have me paged?" She listened intently. "That's not an excuse. Put officer-" Janet nodded, "put Major Stevens on, right now." Janet's hand came up in a stopping motion. "Ah-ah! No excuses sergeant!" Janet had everyone's attention now.

Ah, Jack thought, the little Napoleonic Power Monger was mongering at full speed. Shouldn't take long to get things straightened out.

"Stevens, Fraser. What are her vitals?" Janet quickly scribbled on a memo pad conveniently placed by the phone. "Injuries?" Janet asked, adding to her copious doctor scribbling, "What have you done for her? OK, hang on while I start a team to your location." Janet put Stevens on hold and punched in the infirmary extension. "This is Fraser. I want an ALS team to the main gate. I have an officer down. Broken ribs, concussion, she has been in and out of consciousness, possible facial fractures, may have a punctured right lung." Janet took a breath. " Broken right clavicle and wrist. Left patella is out of position, probable ligament damage. No, she wasn't in a car wreck. Training accident. Possible kidney damage. Massive bruising and guarding to her back. "Janet paused in her narrative. " Right, I'm in a briefing. I'll start up as soon as I can, but I have to brief the general. When you are ready to transport have security inform me." Janet switched back to the other line. "Still there Steven's? Good. I've got an ALS team on the way. I'm with the base commander and 2IC right now. I'll get your clearance and notify the gate. Can you tell me anything more specific than a training accident?" Janet's fingers tightened on the handset. "Oh my god! I knew there were problems, but-" Janet nodded her head. "Right, stay with her, keep her as calm and comfortable as you can, I'll be there as soon as I can get away." Janet hung up the phone and turned angrily toward the table.

"General, I need immediate clearance for two officers, one is critically injured, and the other is the person responsible for keeping her alive and getting her here alive." Janet paused for breath.

"We overheard your end of the conversation doctor. What kind of training accident? I'm not aware of any accidents on the mountain." Hammond turned to face O'Neill. "Colonel, are you aware of anything of this nature?" The meaning was clear. Had O'Neill neglected to keep him apprised of a situation? "Where exactly did this _training accident _occur?" Hammond glanced between O'Neill and Fraser. "You must realize that if this was not on the mountain and the officers are not part of my command, there's not a lot we can do. This is after all a highly classified facility."

"Sir, the critically injured officer is a doctor I recruited last year. She's been security cleared and signed all of the nondisclosure papers. Unfortunately for all of us, she declined the offer. The other major is a RN that has been working with Dr. Bergman, the officer who turned us down . Kat, um, Dr. Bergman, called Major Stevens late last night. Sir, Dr. Bergman was written up on totally false charges and ordered to complete a hand to hand defense class. Kat is 5'2' and 130 pounds. Her training instructor is 6'2" and 200 pounds. Who do you think comes out on top? She's been getting the crap beat out of her on a daily basis. Of course she's continued her normal duties of flight training, ER shifts, and rounds. Her CO also insisted she begin weight training and running every morning before beginning her shift. Apparently the guy went nuts last night. Her "trainer" was not content to take a few cheap shots, he darn near beat her to death. He left her on the floor, turned off the lights, and locked up. When she regained consciousness she dragged herself to the locker room and managed to retrieve her cell phone. She was afraid he would come back to finish her off so she couldn't bring charges."

"Which doesn't explain why she didn't go to her base CO." Hammond reiterated.

Janet stared Hammond in the eye grimly.

"Because sir, this goes all the way to the top of the food chain. The abusive nature of this command is beyond belief."

"Are you absolutely sure about this Doctor? These are pretty damning allegations. You had better be damned sure of your facts before you go making accusations you can't back up."

"Yes sir, I'm well aware of that sir. If Kat survives, I'm sure she can fill us in on all of the details. Right now, it's true we only have Steven's word, but Kat and I have been corresponding since before she arrived back in the states. As a matter of fact, she would still be in Iraq if she hadn't been injured in the line of duty. She was transferred back stateside to recuperate and was transferred to a training position instead of rotating back to the front line. She wasn't very happy about it, but you go where you're ordered. She's dropped hints about her frustrations with this new assignment. She told me her new command wasn't very fond of women on the front line. Actually, they're not even happy with women doctors. They prefer their women in secretarial, nursing, and cooking positions, but mostly in their beds." Janet was beyond angry. She was homicidally furious. "Kat has never backed down from a challenge, ever. She thought she could bring these idiots out of the stone age and into the modern world. She asked me to stay out of it. She said she could handle this on her own, that any interference would only make it harder to assimilate into the command." Sam nodded her head in agreement. Women could have a very hard time, whether in the military or business world. Just when you thought you were accepted, someone would make a comment that would tell the real truth. Something like "bet she slept her way there or not bad for a women", She knew tongues were still wagging over her rank and position at the SGC. The fact that her father was a general hadn't helped any.

"Sir, she thought she could handle it on her own, that she didn't need for someone to come and rescue her. Obviously she was wrong. Sir, I need for you to trust me on this. There is a really good chance that the people who did the deed and condoned their actions are out there looking for them. With the entire command dirty, they will call in favors to find them. I'm sure they'll do just about anything to keep this under the radar. They won't want this to get out. Sir, their lives are in real danger. Even at the Academy Hospital. All they need are some cover stories and good system hackers. General, they will not be anywhere near the gate. You can run a security check while they're confined to the infirmary, mess, and possibly the guest quarters. They'll need cover stories until their old command is taken down and behind bars. They'll need clothes from the quartermaster until they can safely get out and buy some. If something negative blocks their reassignment to the mountain, they can be transferred to the Academy Hospital after this whole sordid affair has been taken care of." Janet was nearly pleading now. "Sir, they are as good as dead if you deny them medical care and a security detail." Janet looked at her watch. "She's dieing sir, we've already wasted precious time. Every minute counts." Hammond sighed. He really couldn't see any other way to handle the entire mess.

"All right doctor. Colonel, call the front gate and make arrangements with security. Normal protocol for unexpected visitors. Major Carter, I want you to put the background checks in motion, put feelers out on base moral and anything that strikes you as unusual. Talk with Major Stevens as soon as you can. I want her side of this as soon as possible. Stevens should be able to give you enough facts to get a good start. If there is something this dirty going on, I want enough information to take it to JAG and clean house." Hammond turned his attention to Teal'c. "Teal'c, you still have recruit hand to hand training in fifteen minutes." Teal'c inclined his head in agreement. Dismissed."

Sam turned to ask Janet some questions regarding Dr. Bergman and realized she was already gone. She hadn't even heard her leave.

"Carter," Sam's head swiveled to O'Neill. "I want you to do some digging, on the same level as NID investigations. Find out everything you can from Stevens, and do a little midnight hacking, get all the dirt you can dig up. I want to know what's been going on there for the last five to ten years. Any complaints that have been filed, and I mean of any nature, and the outcomes." Sam nodded and turned to Daniel.

"Daniel, can you give me a hand once I talk to Stevens? I could use another set of eyes."

"Sure, no problem. I'll be in my lab , just call when you're ready for me." Daniel gathered his papers together as he and Sam made their arrangements.

"Thanks Daniel. See you later." Sam turned back to the table to pick up her notes.

"Colonel, a word in my office. Dismissed Major.

Jack followed the general to his office.

"Come on in Jack," the general said over his shoulder, "and close the door." Hammond sighed as Jack closed the door quietly.

Jack was pretty sure he knew what was coming. As a matter of fact, he couldn't wait to get started. The only drawback to the mission was not being able to make the scumbags disappear. There were some things you just didn't do. And attacking, with the intention of killing, a member of your team was right at the top of the list. Yes by god, he was itching to get the ball rolling. And let the bodies drop where they may. He recalled the t-shirts he'd often seen with the caption "KILL THEM ALL AND LET GOD SORT THEM OUT" This seemed to him to be that kind of mission. Not to mention that he knew this major. The name "Kat" Bergman was not a common name. Her name rang a few distant bells. Bells he would rather remain silent.

"Jack, are you listening?" Hammond seemed a little irritated as Jack jerked his thoughts back to the here and now.

"Sorry sir, just thinking things through."

"Son, I get the feeling you and this doctor may have met before. Is this going to be a problem for you?"

"The answer to the first question is, quite possibly yes. If this is the doc I think it is, we have quite a history. Most of it didn't "_officially_" happen, if you know what I mean sir. And two, it won't be a problem."

"Glad to hear that. Jack, this smells mighty bad. We need to find out how high up the chain of command this goes. Dr. Fraser seems to think this command is rotten all the way to the top. I want you to find out." Jack nodded in agreement as Hammond continued. "I need to have all the intel you can gather. I need it to be clean. I'll be taking everything you and Major Carter bring me and handing it over to Jag to begin courts martial proceedings." George leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. "Jack, you know we have to keep this on a need to know basis. I want you to run a special security check on Bergman and Stevens. Bergman should be cleared already, but I want you to make sure she still is. If everything checks out, have Dr. Jackson brief Stevens on the SGC, Dr. Fraser can offer her a job. I'm sure she'll want her. I happen to have it straight from the doctors mouth, not to mention the constant personnel requests that cross my desk. It would seem that you have been awfully hard on Dr. Fraser's nursing staff." Jack opened his mouth to challenge the remark, but Hammond waved him off. "Have Stevens sign on the dotted line ASAP. Bergman will obviously have to wait until she's recovered enough to make an informed consent. But that doesn't mean you can't have her on temporary reassignment to this command from when she and Stevens left their base to seek medical care and report what had happened to someone outside of their chain of command. Make sure the paperwork states they did not know who was involved as the reason for not going up their chain of command. In the meantime, I would be willing to bet that if you ask Sgt Harriman he can find a copy of Bergman's paperwork on file. You know darned good and well the military never throws anything out, we just file it away." Hammond and O'Neill shared a laugh at the military's expense. I'm sure if Harriman can't find it Major Carter can. I want them re-assed to this command yesterday. I don't want any AWOL issues to interfere with taking out the trash. Now, that's the easy part." Hammond leaned forward and braced his arms on the table. "Now, this is what I want you to do….."

Finally the door to the generals office opened and Jack walked out. Damn, Jack thought, there had been an awful lot of sirs in his last conversation with Carter. He had a sneaking suspicion that "his" major was just as pissed as the good doctor. He was dammed glad he was on "their" side. Still, it wouldn't hurt to be careful around the women on base. Sometimes there was fallout. He definitely didn't want to get caught up in that. Hmmm, he should probably have Walter get a message to the men on base to tread carefully. He knew the news would spread like wildfire. Gossip spread faster than the speed of light, even deep inside a mountain. He'd deal with that later. For now though, he had his orders to carry out. He was going to enjoy beating the crap out of officers that got their kicks by physically and mentally damaging the people that they considered weak. And in their little world, that would be anyone other than their little club. Soon they would know how it felt to be on the other end of the equation. Yep the shit was about to hit the fan. By the time the SGC was through with them, they would be intimately acquainted with the term FUBAR. In spades.

Teal'c was waiting in the hallway as O'Neill exited the briefing room. Jack checked his watch.

"Aren't you supposed to be somewhere right about now T?"

"I have sent a message to the training class to begin warm ups without me. Lt Marsden shows promise as a leader. I have put him in charge of the men until I arrive." O'Neill nodded. Together they walked to the elevator. Jack could tell Teal'c was working up to something. He was not disappointed.

"O'Neill, this betrayal must be avenged! Are not physicians greatly valued by the Tauri?" He didn't wait for an answer. "This woman seems to be a honorable warrior and healer. What would cause these men to attack a valued member of their team?" Jack's features were set and hard.

"Well Teal'c, you know that men on all worlds can be dumber than shit. I think this lady doc has more balls than the men she works with." Teal'c looked at O'Neill sharply. "Come on T, you know what I mean." Teal'c nodded gravely.

"These inferior warriors are shamed by this woman. They show their inferiority by attempting to instill fear in her. They wish to humiliate her in order to increase their standing among the other men. When they failed at this, they attempted to kill her in a most cowardly way. They are traitors and must be removed before they spread their disease to others. They must be eliminated." Once again Jack was impressed by Teal'c's understanding of the situation. He didn't rise to First Prime because he was stupid.

"Oh yeah. Heads are so gonna' roll, and it will be my pleasure to do the rolling."

"Ah, much as it is on Chulak, we will behead the offenders and defend the doctor's honor." Jack blinked.

"Well, actually, it's more a metaphorical thing, but you're more than welcome to join in." Teal'c nodded his head.

"It will be my honor. It will be a good lesson for other inferior warriors. Such behavior will not be tolerated." Teal'c pushed the elevator call button.

"I'm glad you're on my side T, these scumbags won't know what hit them." The elevator doors opened and Teal'c followed Jack inside.

Sam was waiting in Janet's office, mostly just staying out of the way. It was like a swarm of agitated ants had invaded the infirmary. From what she had seen on her walk through the triage area, the new doctor appeared to be in pretty bad shape. Major Stevens was helping out Fraser's crew. Hopefully, she'd have a chance to talk to Steven's soon. "Kat" almost disappeared under the swarm of doctors and nurses. Sam knew the more quickly they got started with the debrief and undercover investigation, the better it would be for everyone. They needed to get to work as quickly as possible, gather all of the background intel they could, and clean up the base from hell. She would get to kick some good old fashioned male chauvinist ass. Sam mentally cracker her knuckles. She could hardly wait.

As a career officer and an AF brat, she knew things could get nasty, but this was way beyond the norm. She knew Hammond and O'Neill would both be furious. In their book, there wasn't anything much worse than what had happened to this officer.

Sam looked up as Janet popped into the room with Stevens.

"I have to go prep for surgery. Could you take Stevens to the mess? She's been up 36 hours and hasn't eaten in god knows how long. Then a shower, clean clothes, and a bunk. If not in visitors quarters, bring her back, and she can bunk here. Try to get anything you need from Eileen during this little respite, because she's heading to bed. ASAP. Doctors orders. If Colonel O'Neill or General Hammond have a problem with that, they can see me when I come out of surgery." Sam blinked and looked Stevens over. She did look kind of rough.

"Is Dr. Bergman going to be ok?" Sam asked. Janet locked eyes with her.

"I hope so. If not, hell hath no fury….." And Janet jogged out to shower and gown up. Sam turned to the other officer.

"I'm Major Samantha Carter, you can call me Sam." The other woman nodded tiredly.

"I'm Major Eileen Johnson. I'm a trauma nurse. Kat and I have worked together off and on for the past 15 years. I was happy to see her at my new posting." Eileen swallowed, "I had absolutely no idea how bad it was going to get." Sam nodded in agreement.

"What do you want to do first? Clean up or eat"?

"I 'd better eat first. I have a feeling I'm gonna crash soon." Eileen rolled her eyes and snorted, "And it won't be pretty." Sam nodded and led the way to the mess hall. As they were walking through the halls with their security shadow, Sam began to question Eileen.

"Just give me a brief synopsis for now, we'll have a full on debriefing once you get some sleep. I just need the major facts as you understand them. I'll also need your full name, serial number, dob, and official posting information. While you catch some rack time, I'll get Dr. Bergman's info from Dr. Fraser. Colonel O'Neill , the base 2IC, has given me orders to have you and Dr. Bergman re-assed to the SGC effective yesterday. Eileen's head snapped up in surprise. She really hadn't given much thought to what was going to happen after she got Kat to safety.

" Dr. Bergman is already cleared for permanent re-assignment here. It seems Dr. Fraser recruited her, cleared her, and then Dr. Bergman turned her down." Eileen nodded to herself.

"Kat, uh, Dr. Bergman ,told me about it. We spent an entire night with a couple of bottles of Bailey's and discussed the pro's and con's." Sam looked at Eileen sharply.

"Told you what exactly?"

Eileen touched Sam's forearm to stop her. She glanced at the SF shadowing them and Sam gestured for him to hang back a bit. The SF nodded in understanding.

" Don't worry Sam, Kat didn't tell me anything classified. She just told me she had been recruited by a friend to work in an underground facility. She said it was a fascinating posting, but felt she could better serve by continuing what she did best."

"And that is?"

"Kat is the best flight medic par none. She's a trauma specialist. She's served in two wars, not to mention the not so public ones. She quite literally flies in where angels fear to go, and then she brings them out alive."

"Ok, so basically you're saying she didn't want to leave flying behind?"

"Yep, pretty much. She felt if she wasn't on the front line anymore, at least she could be a valuable source of information on the advances and practicalities of front line action. You know as well as I do that things can get stale in the class room, not always up with the frontline action. Advances are made, and they filter back, but it takes time. Kat wanted to share what had she learned the hard way on the front line. Try to save lives. It's the kind of stuff you only learn in the thick of it, if you live long enough. You know what I mean?"

"Oh yeah. It's that little voice in your head yelling at you to get the heck out of there, or you need to be over there not here. It seems to be innate, you either have it or you don't. I think the major hurdle is learning to listen and trust yourself in a situation. All our lives we are told what to do, we literally get our marching orders in the services. It's hard to trust yourself to know what to do with the information you have. I've learned a lot from Colonel O'Neill, Teal'c, and General Hammond. It's not all book learning. If it was ,everyone would be a five star general, and no one would ever die."

"Exactly." Eileen said, head nodding in agreement.

"So how long have you and Dr. Bergman known each other again?" Sam asked.

"Oh, around 15 years or so, we were both lowly lieutenants when we met. When you are a woman, most of the time you are in the minority. We've been under fire together way too often. I think you understand what I mean when I say combat duty forges very strong bonds. You eat together, sleep together, shower together-" Eileen blushed bright red, "ohmygod! That sounded wrong in oh so many ways!" Sam couldn't help it, she doubled over laughing. Eileen looked over her shoulder and found the SF smirking and shaking his head. Yep, that little ditty was going to make the rounds. She'd lay odds it was all through the mountain before the ink was dry on her transfer. She cleared her throat and tried again. "We just clicked. It's like we know what the other is going to say before we actually say it. Does that make sense to you or am I just too exhausted to be coherent?" Eileen shook her head and ran her fingers through her short hair. "We just hit it off right from the start. We pretty much have the same warped sense of humor. The worse the situation, the more bad jokes we crack. We just sort of hang out on the same shaky tree branch. And it's creaking and swaying in the breeze."

Sam smiled knowingly and nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, Janet and I got to know each other when we were locked up together."

"Excuse me? I don't suppose you can tell me why you were locked up?"

"Uh, no. Not just yet. If your background check turns out ok, and after you sign the non disclosure papers, we can have a ladies night out at Janet's and swap war stories."

"That sounds really great. Kat and I haven't made many friends at the base from hell. It'll be really nice to have some friends to chill out with. Now all we have to do is convince Kat to give up the choppers. Although, after this, I think she'll be more than ready for a change." "I can't blame her really," Sam stated as they began walking again. "I miss flying too, but she's totally wrong about this place. If she's an adrenaline junkie, she'll love it here. How about you? Do you like the unexpected never a dull moment kind of daily routine?"

"Oh yeah. I _am_ a trauma nurse after all. That's not exactly geriatric medicine." She giggled, then snorted.

"Oh my god, my brain is so totally fried." And she began giggling helplessly. Sam couldn't help it. Before long they were snorting and giggling their way through the SGC corridors bouncing off of the walls and each other. The very male SF shadowing them just shook his head in total confusion. Women! He'd never understand them.

Sam fought to catch her breath.

"We're almost there. Food, shower, clothes, bed. In that order. How's that sound to you?"

"Sounds great! I'm afraid I'm going to do or say something really stupid. Low blood sugar and no sleep are _so_ not a good idea. Look, I'm going to apologize in advance for anything I may say or do. Please forgive me if I do or say something I shouldn't." Eileen gestured toward their shadow. "Could you try to reassure that scary looking SF that I'm not a threat? Maybe you could try to keep him from shooting me? He doesn't look like he has much of a sense of humor."

"Yeah, been there, done that, have the t-shirt. Just don't make any sudden moves or make a run for it. We can be deadly serious around here, but I think he'll cut us some slack. Right Hendricks?" The SF didn't totally relax, but nodded their way. Sam waved her arms enthusiastically, "look, we're here! Food at last!" All intelligent conversation ceased as they concentrated on food and drink. And chocolate. Definitely a chocolate kind of night. **Must have chocolate!** **Lot's and lot's of chocolate!** She'd earned it by god!

Daniel hated crack of dawn briefings. He didn't actually have to attend this one, but after helping Sam most of the night, he figured he had a vested interest in the proceedings. Even Jack was late, but finally everyone was assembled around the table. Sam and Jack sat together on one side while he and Teal'c sat on the other. Janet and Eileen sat together at the end of the table with their heads together quietly discussing something. Eileen was in clean BDU's, but she still looked exhausted. Janet didn't look any better. As Hammond entered Jack, Sam, Janet, and Eileen pushed up from the table. Hammond casually waved them back down.

"At ease," Hammond sat and took a drink of his coffee. "Please tell me you have some information for me. Dr. Fraser, what is Dr. Bergman's condition?"

Janet didn't even need to look at the papers in front of her. She took a sip of her coffee and began.

"Well sir, I have a rather long list of injuries. She came through surgery last night and moved into ICU. I'll keep her there for at least another 24 hours. I'm keeping her sedated, allowing her to recuperate with as little movement as possible. She has a skull fracture which we're keeping a close eye on. We had to re-inflate her right lung. Dr. Warner took care of her right knee. All in all, it's amazing she made it to the SGC. She's not out of the woods yet, but I've known Kat for a long time. She's small, but she's scrappy.

"Major Stevens here had a good meal, a shower, change of clothes, and some sleep. She could use some more sleep, but being a nurse, she's pretty much used to it. Right?" Eileen smiled and nodded.

"Yes mam. It kind of goes with the territory." Eileen speared General Hammond with her blue eyes. "Sir, is it true I might be transferred here or to the academy hospital?" Hammond nodded acknowledgment.

"Yes major. Colonel, did you get the results on the security check I asked you to run?" Jack remained slouched in his chair.

"Yes sir I did…. Carter?" Sam smirked slightly tucking her chin to her chest briefly. It always rolls down hill. The higher up it starts, the faster it goes.

"Sirs, the report came back early this morning. Dr. Bergman and Nurse Stevens have been cleared for SGC duty. I had the transfer papers drawn up and gave them to Sgt. Harriman. He placed them on your desk this morning for you to sign."

"Sergeant!" Hammond bellowed just as Walter entered the room.

"They're in your folder sir." He waited a beat as Hammond looked through the papers in his briefing folder.

"Where-" Hammond was shuffling through his stack of papers as Walter whipped around the table to Hammond's side and almost instantly retrieved the papers in question.

"There you go sir."

"Thank you sergeant, dismissed." Walter left the room muttering into his headset. Hammond glanced at the paper work and back up to Major Stevens.

"Major, your official paper work will read you have been on temporary assignment to Cheyenne Mountain Complex. If you are so inclined, that can be made permanent. Or… you may take assignment to the academy hospital. If you so desire, you may return to your previous posting. Dr. Jackson, please give Major Stevens the standard SGC introduction so she can make an informed decision. Major, you have 48 hours to make up your mind. That being said, had you given any thought to what you were going to do once you got here?" Eileen straightened in her chair beside Janet, squared her shoulders and made eye contact with the general.

"General Hammond, while this entire disaster came at me like a tornado, I must admit I'm intrigued. From just the little I've see, this base functions much more cohesively than the cesspool I just left. The general feeling of this base is positive, welcoming, and I've noticed the feeling of "family" here. It would be really nice not having to look over my shoulder all the time, wondering when I'll be taken down, maybe literally, by people that are supposed to watch my back, not stick a knife in it. For the past year I have walked a tightrope. I watched my best friend having "accidents" on training missions, escalating to extreme pt, harassing phone calls, e-mails, and notes placed in her locker and jump bag. The fact that I'm Kathleen's friend began to make me a target as well. I was written up for non existent incidents. The women I worked with began to pull back until there was only minimal contact during duty hours only. That's not normal. There can be -" and she made little quote marks in the air, "bad postings, bad CO's, but this-" Eileen's voice cracked. She could feel her cheeks reddening and tears pooling in her eyes. She cleared her throat and swallowed. "Sirs," and she glanced toward Hammond then O'Neill, "It would be my honor to join the SGC. Where do I signup?" Janet broke formality with a little squeal and hugged Eileen.

"Oh, sorry! Not enough sleep." O'Neill huffed and muttered under his breath. Janet tried to puff up. "Really!" Sam snorted causing Janet to flush bright red. "Oh come on! Give me a break here." One of Teal'c's eyebrows rose toward his hair line. His eyes sparkled. The Jaffa was guffawing on the inside. Daniel smiled and offered congratulations. Janet rolled her eyes.

"Watch out for Dr. Jackson major, he's just buttering you up. He always wants something he shouldn't have when he's our guest in the infirmary." Jack covered his mouth and coughed into his hand.

"Mrmfcoffee…." Sam grinned while Daniel blustered.

"Okay people, calm down." Hammond raised his hands in a quieting gesture. "Welcome to the SGC major. We can't promise a perfect work environment, but I dare say, you should find it better here than what you left behind. We do tend to have some amazing things going on here. I won't promise never a dull moment, but we probably have more than our share of excitement. That being said, we need to get down to some very distasteful business. Colonel O'Neill, Major Carter, what have you found out about Major Bergman's CO and the base CO?

The mood in the briefing room changed from light hearted bantering to deadly serious in a heartbeat. Eileen watched in quiet awe as O'Neill morphed into a self contained killing machine. She had seen warriors before. After all, she had a lot of combat trauma experience. She saw them before and after the unthinkable happened to them. Right now she was very glad she was on the right side of this little war.

She remembered O'Neill, he had changed over the years. But then, so had they all. She had happened to be on duty the day O'Neill had brought a very damaged Kat in from the bowels of hell. She had thought she would never see Kat alive again. She didn't even know if her tags or body would be found. O'Neill had left shortly after depositing Kat into medical hands. Eileen had heard he had stayed only long enough to debrief and he was off again. She knew these special ops guys were a different bunch. Unfortunately, a depressingly large number of them died on a mission, or went dark side. She was very glad to see this one seemed to have beat the odds. Maybe when Kat was better, they could go out for a drink or something. Have a drink in honor of those who didn't come back, be they fighter or healer, they shouldn't be forgotten.

A hand slammed down on the table and Eileen jumped. She had pushed her chair back and was halfway to the door before she knew what was happening. She spun around and faced the table, chest heaving, lungs fighting for air. Her pulse was pounding so hard and fast she was sure it would either erupt from her chest or blow the top of her head off. As her eyes darted around the room, briefly touching on each person at the table, she felt the adrenaline reaction pump through her body. Jeeze, they'd think her totally unfit for duty. Ok, maybe it was still possible to salvage her first day with this command. Play it down. Take a seat like nothing happened. Was it working?

"Sorry, um, just sorry. I guess I'm a little edgy right now. I'm fine, really". She took a calming breath and wondered if anyone believed her. Janet reached out to lay a calming hand on her arm. Just a quick touch, a soft reassuring smile, almost like quieting a scared child or perhaps a wild animal. Was that redundant? Weren't children and wild animals one and the same? Oh, this was bad, very very bad. She looked like a freaked out babbling idiot, and she was talking to herself. Out loud. Worse than that, she was answering. Ok, this was totally humiliating. "Really, I'm fine." She couldn't help but notice that she was the center of attention. Crap. She tried a little smile on, reached for her cup of coffee, and was stopped dead by Colonel O'Neill .

"Ya know Major, maybe you should ease up on the coffee a little. Maybe try decaf?"

"Jack! Leave her alone."

"Daniel."

"Jack"

"Daniel?"

"Jack?"

"Daniel!"

"Jack"

"Sir."

"O'Neill, Danieljackson".

"Colonel O'Neill, Dr. Jackson." On my god, it sounded like the Walton's or something. And she had started it. Eileen noticed Sam and Janet rolling their eyes, almost in unison. Hmmm, interesting. She tried very hard to become invisible. Where was her damn cloak of invisibility when she needed it.

O'Neill held his hands up and cleared his throat. "Ok, no offence intended major." Jack looked Eileen in the eye. Damn-it! How could he look her in the eye if she was invisible?

"No offense taken sir. I'm a little edgy. I'm sure that'll pass now that Kat is safe here, and thanks to General Hammond and yourself, I'm going to be safe too! I admit I was worried about what would happen to us. I've never been AWOL before. I sincerely hope it's the last time. But I have to be honest sirs, I would do it again under the same circumstances. I will not stand by and do nothing if someone needs my help. What happened to Kat was not in a combat situation, nor was it perpetrated by the enemy. This is a case of a morally degenerate person in a command position taking advantage of members of his command. The "good ole boys controlling through intimidation and physical threats. Compliance of subordinates was obtained through fear of career and threats to family life." Eileen sucked in a shaky breathe and tried to relax her tightly fisted hands. Huh, where did that little rant come from? Jack quirked an eyebrow.

"So Major, why don't you tell us how you really feel?" Daniel rolled his eyes toward the ceiling, Sam and Janet grinned, and Teal'c paid careful attention to the very strange Tauri. Just when you thought you had a handle on them, they went and did something even more bizarre. Interesting.

"Sorry sirs, mam, no disrespect intended. Really, I kick ass in the field. I know my enemy there. It's death. I'm not naïve, I've seen what people do to each other, and it's not pretty. Frankly sirs, I'm tired. Tired of bucking abuse of power, by the people I'm supposed to trust my life to. Tired of being under attack by the people in my care. Tired of feeling like I'm in enemy territory, even on base in the USA. Tired of worrying when those assholes would finally go too far and kill one of my best friends. Or maybe me too, because I won't cave to their threats. I stand by my friends. Hell, I stand by anyone who needs a hand. I've seen bad leadership before, but this…." Eileen swallowed and swiped at her eyes and tried her damnedest not to break down totally. "I know how to fight death! What's hard for me is dealing with idiots, especially idiots in command roles, and the trickle down idiots that kiss their idiot ass." Eileen swallowed and took a shaky breath. "Ok, now that I'm probably up on insubordination charges, I'll just shut up now." Eileen took the time to look General Hammond and Colonel O'Neill in the eye. "I don't normally behave like this." Eileen cast worried eyes to Sam and Janet. "Um, one more thing. If we're staying here, how do I get our things sent to us? Will accommodations, and duty stations be covered in the "welcome to Cheyenne Mountain" book?

"No problem major," Jack drawled, "I'm sure Major Carter, Dr. Fraser, and Dr. Jackson will be happy to help you with finding satisfactory accommodations. Right Daniel?" Jack smirked evilly at Daniel. Daniel dipped his head briefly and emitted a long suffering sigh.

"Of course I will Jack." Eileen was a little worried about the undercurrent going on. She had a feeling she was the butt of some kind of insider joke. Hopefully it wouldn't be too embarrassing.

"Carter will get you sorted out. Won't ya Carter?"

"Of course sir, already working on it." Sam turned to Eileen and tried to project calmness and reassurance. "Base personnel quarters aren't the ritz, but they're better than bunking in the infirmary." Janet glared at Sam. As if! Her infirmary beds were a heck of a lot better than many of the places SG1 had spent the night. Just wait till it was time for Sam's next pre-mission physical!

"So Carter, you and Doc going to take Steven's shopping?" Sam had been making notes and looked up quickly.

"Sir?"

"Shopping Carter?"

"Shopping sir?" Jack rolled his eyes.

"Are you playing me Carter? Because I happen to know that you know bigger words than shopping." Oh boy, Carter death glare. His internal fatal trap alarms was flashing red and blaring. Walk very carefully grasshopper.

"Yes sir, I know what shopping means. I'll take Major Stevens to get some things to hold her over until we can get out of the mountain and go shopping. Janet, are you putting her to work right away or are you allowing transition time?"

"I'm giving her 48, then starting her rotation. That should give plenty of time for her paperwork to process." Janet turned toward Eileen. "You can check on Kat and kind of get to know the infirmary and the other doctors and nurses while you're stuck on base. Daniel, Sam, and I will try to help out all we can where our schedules permit. After you're finished with your paperwork, and giving Sam your statement, you can come back to the infirmary and get the lay of the land. But I'm sure your priority will be to make yourself available to Colonel O'Neill and the investigation."

Daniel checked his notebook. "Um, I'll be helping Sam with her cyber research, but I can do your orientation as soon as you're cleared. Do you mind having me as a guide?" Eileen looked surprised.

"Why would I mind?" Daniel studied Eileen intently for moment.

"I just thought you might have some wariness toward men right now." Eileen was surprised.

"Why? I like men, it's just idiots that I have a problem with. Especially idiots that hurt people. Brain damaged individuals sometimes have accidents." Her eyes widened. "Did I just say that out loud?" They were going to lock her in a padded room if she wasn't careful. She caught Janet's eye. Ok, maybe she'd be all right. This Dr. Fraser looked like someone she could trust. Teal'c's baritone voice cut the sudden silence.

"MajorStevens, on Chulak you would be within your rights to punish these inferior warriors as you see fit. I am available to provide assistance if you so desire ." Huh, Jack thought. Teal'c was a little pissed about this. Interesting. He'd better keep an eye on him. It wouldn't do for Teal'c to go haring off on his own.

"T, they'll be fine here. But if it makes you feel better, you can be in charge of their security detail." Teal'c bowed his head solemnly.

"I will give utmost care to providing for your security MajorStevens." O-k, that was a little unexpected. But who was she to complain?

"Thank you, um, Teal'c? That means a lot to Kathleen and me." Eileen paused for a minute. She switched her attention to Colonel O'Neill.

"Colonel, I think I can provide a contact for you at the base infirmary. Would it be possible for her to get a transfer as well?" Jack studied the nurse carefully.

"What do you have in mind major?" Eileen folded her hands on the table and took a fortifying breath.

"Sirs, Captain Elaine Hunter is a friend. She could feed information to you. She's kind of been riding both sides of the fence. She's as unhappy there as we are, but she felt she couldn't openly support us. She has a young daughter, and she's afraid of retaliation. But if you can provide a safe place for her daughter, I'm sure she would be willing to help us." O'Neill carefully considered the new information.

"Also, Major Sean O'Bryan is a new doc that just transferred in six months ago. He's been questioning the number of injuries Dr. Bergman has been having. He's raising questions that are about to get him in a lot of trouble." Jack nodded adding the names to his list of contacts.

"How would you explain Captain Hunters daughter not staying with her?"

Janet thought carefully.

"How about a stay with grandparents. Are they available?" Eileen grinned.

"Yes, absolutely. Either her folks or her in-laws would be happy to keep Jen. That shouldn't be a problem. Elaine's in-laws are both retired military." Jack processed the new information.

"Think they'd want to visit the Springs?" Eileen grinned.

"Sure, why not. Her father-in-law is Colonel Thomas Anthony Hunter , Air Force(ret). I'm sure he would love to visit the Springs. He'd be very upset to think his granddaughter might be in danger." Jack grinned smugly.

"General, it looks like we have a plan. I already have some contacts moving in, but having Captain Hunter already on the inside is a plus." Hammond nodded in agreement,

"You have a go with what we discussed last night Colonel. How do you intend to contact Captain Hunter?"

"Carter will come up with something. Won't you Carter?" Sam rolled her eyes at her co.

"Of course sir. We'll have a little hen party as soon as we're dismissed," Sam stated dryly. Janet and Eileen tried not to chuckle out loud. Of course they'd solve the problem. We are woman, here us roar! Who needed the men anyway? After all, it was men who were the problem.

"Alright, you have a go people, dismissed." Hammond retreated to his office to get on with his day.

Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.

Eileen listened to the steady beeps of the heart monitor. Kathleen was hanging on. It was the end of her second day at Stargate Command. She had been cleared, signed, picture taken, and fingerprinted. She was officially part of the SGC. The mission to take down General McGee and company was well underway. Little Jennifer Marie Hunter was safe with her grandfather and her mother was feeding intel to Col O'Neill. She shifted in her chair and reached out to hold Kat's bruised hand. So still and cool. Intellectually, she knew her friend was in a medically induced coma. She knew the reason for it. But she'd give just about anything to see her friend open her eyes and look at her with her intelligence shining through. She sighed. Another half hour and she'd have to hit the rack. She had a full shift starting in eight hours. A slight noise at the door made her look up warily. She was relieved to see Dr. Fraser standing in the doorway. Janet came in and checked the readouts. She didn't need to look at Kat's chart. She knew what it said.

"She's looking petty stable. I think I'll let her wake up tomorrow. What do you think?" Eileen smiled.

"I think that's great. I've been missing my friend. Besides, I have to get to work. I don't have time to sit here and hold her hand anymore." Janet agreed. It was time for Dr. Bergman to wake up and get on the road to recovery. It was high time she started pulling her own weight again.

"Think she'll be ok with the transfer?" Janet asked.

"I think she'll be glad to be anywhere but where she was. Quite frankly, she's got to take orders. It doesn't matter what she wants." Janet agreed. However, she knew firsthand an unhappy Anna Kathleen Bergman was not a pretty sight. But Kat adapted. She'd get over it. Janet cleared her throat. "I think you should probably get some sleep. I'll stay with her for a while." Eileen nodded and squeezed Kat's hand.

"I gotta get some sleep Kat. Gotta work in eight. First day on a new job. I'm a little nervous, you know? Your friend Doc Fraser is gonna sit with you a while. I know you've got a lot to catch up on. Dr. Fraser might even have a sitrep on the McGee project." Eileen looked to Fraser for confirmation. Janet nodded. "So anyway, I'll see ya tomorrow. Doc's gonna let ya wake up, and we can plan a male bashing party. Sound good? Goodnight Kat." Eileen released Kat's hand and stood. "Good night doctor. See you in the morning." Janet smiled.

"Get some rest, you're going to need it." Janet stopped Eileen at the door.

"Eileen. I don't know if I've said it before, but thank you for risking so much for Kat. I owe you more than you can imagine." Eileen took a step back into the room.

"I know you and Kat go back a long way. And I know some of Colonel O'Neill's history with Kat. I was there for some of it. He doesn't remember me, but I'll never forget him. He brought Kat back to us. I'll never be able to repay that. And here he is, doing it again. It's like we're all connected. And now, he's taking down a new enemy. He's taking a big risk taking on General McGee. He's got connections. Otherwise he'd have been gone long ago." Eileen shook her head. "I'm rambling. I'm sorry, guess I need sleep. Good night Dr. Fraser."

" Goodnight Eileen." Janet turned back to Kat. She took a cloth and rewet it in the basin on the instrument tray next to the bed. Wringing it out, she began to wipe Kat's face and neck while talking to her softly.

"Hey Kat. I'm going to let you wake up in the morning. You've been slacking long enough. I've got some news for you. Colonel O'Neill has been working with Captain Hunter and Dr. O'Bryan. I think they'll be surprising General McGee and that no count former team of yours any day now. By the way, you work for me now. What? No comment? I'm sure you'll let me have it tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it." Janet dropped the cloth back in the basin and sat down. "I'm not going to lie to you. You've got a long rehab ahead of you. But you'll be fine. Don't forget. The best revenge is living well and being happy. I know you can do it. We have a great hen party planned. You know, Eileen, Capt. Hunter, Major Carter - you don't know her yet, but you'll like Sam. We'll have a hell of a party." Janet sighed and closed her eyes. She was so tired. Thank goodness Cassie could stay with friends, because she couldn't remember when she'd been home last. Time to call it a night. "I'm beat Kat. I really need to hit the sack. See you in the morning." Janet stood and stretched. Yep, time to call Cassie and say goodnight. Janet walked out the door on the way to her office. The machines kept their vigil. The sound of the heart monitor and the ventilator steady and reassuring.

It was a bright and sunny summer morning in Colorado Springs. But you'd never know it deep down in Cheyenne Mountain. The only way you knew the passage of time was the increased traffic in the hallways. Daniel Jackson juggled his steaming cup of coffee and paperwork as he passed airman in the hallway. He hadn't seen Jack for two days. He knew the takedown was in progress. He scrunched his nose up in an attempt to keep his glasses from sliding farther down his nose. He'd be wearing his contacts if he hadn't been putting in so much time. His eyes were shot. He walked through the open door of Sam's lab and stopped short. Major Samantha Carter was sound asleep on her keyboard, and was she snoring? Daniel stayed well clear of the sleeping officer and cleared his throat. Huh. No response.

"Sam?" nothing. A little louder, "Sam?" Sam jerked and sat up straight almost falling off of her stool. She grabbed for the table and steadied herself while looking around wildly. Daniel did a finger wave from the doorway. He knew Sam had a tendency to bite first and ask questions later.

"Daniel. What time is it?" Daniel set his stuff down and checked his watch.

"06:00." Daniel pointed at his mouth and cheek. "you've got, um, keyboard marks." Sam's face reddened. She rubbed her cheek self-consciously.

"Oh for cryin' out loud!" Daniel grinned. She was channeling Jack.

"I take it you haven't heard from Jack?

"No. At least not before I crashed. Wanna grab another cup of coffee and some breakfast?" Daniel nodded in affirmation. You could never have too much coffee after all. He'd only had three cups so far this morning. He was still trying to wake up.

"Yeah, and then maybe we can ask Walter if he's heard anything." Sam and Daniel headed for the mess chatting amiably. Things had been crazy for the last couple of days. No problems off world. It was Earthbound troubles. Always where you least expected it. Hopefully Colonel O'Neill and Teal'c would be back soon and things could get back to normal, at least as normal as things got at the SGC. Like aliens dropping in unexpectedly, over the top bad guys threatening Earth, hostile natives on other planets. Yep, just the everyday stuff.

Janet yawned over her coffee, stirring slowly. She hadn't taken her first bite of breakfast yet. She looked up as Sam and Daniel walked through the door. She smiled and waved at them. Sam waved back and pointed at the food service line. Janet nodded and carefully sipped her coffee. Mmmmmmm. Better than sex. Well, maybe that depended on who you were having sex with. The corners of Janet's mouth quirked up. She did the pre and post mission physicals, and she had some ideas on that. She was still smiling as Sam and Daniel sat at the table with her. Sam and Daniel looked at each other and back at Janet.

"What are you smiling about so early? You've got a cat who got the canary smile going on. Something you want to share?" Sam asked. Janet's cheeks reddened slightly.

"What?" Janet asked. Sam checked Janet out a little more closely. Hmmm. Interesting. She filed it away for later.

"What have you got planned today? Anything interesting?" Janet nodded.

"Yes actually. Major Stevens should be reporting for duty about now. SG's 3 and 5 are headed out this morning, so two sets of pre gate physicals. And…I'm waking Kat up today. At least I hope she wakes up. She's going to be a little mad at me." Daniel frowned.

"Why? You saved her life, what's to be upset about?" Daniel asked. The caffeine was finally making it's way through his system. Janet took another drink of coffee before answering,

"Because I stepped in and took charge. I saved her life, but I also got her a transfer she didn't ask for." Sam swallowed the spoonful of yogurt in her mouth.

"I think she'll understand Janet. She might be embarrassed that everyone knows what was going on, but she'll get over it. I'm sure with you here, and her friends Eileen and Elaine, that she'll adjust quickly." Daniel watched the exchange and chewed on his bagel. He figured this new doctor had a tough go ahead of her. But he had seen both Janet and Eileen. He knew they'd be there for her. And if he knew Sam, she'd be there too! The girls club had just grown by three.

Janet's pager buzzed. She pulled it out of her lab coat pocket and read the message. She looked at the rest of her breakfast with longing. Taking a last gulp of her coffee she pushed her chair back and stood up. "Gotta go, Kat's beginning to wake up. It'll take a while, but I want to be there. See you later." Sam and Daniel nodded as Janet turned to leave.

"Leave your tray, I'll take it back for you. " Daniel offered. Janet looked over her shoulder and grinned.

"You just want my bacon. Thanks Daniel" and she walked briskly away. Daniel reached for Janet's tray, snagging her bacon and toast. Sam grinned.

"Janet was right, you did want her bacon." Daniel turned puppy dog eyes on Sam, "Ah! That won't work on me, I work with you." Sam glanced at the tray. "Hand me her apple." Daniel smirked. An abandoned tray was fair game. He handed Sam the apple and munched contentedly on "his" bacon.

As Janet walked into the infirmary she noticed nurses coming at her from all directions. Nothing looked urgent, just reports and change of shift. Hmmm, airman Johnson was coming along. She penned dismissal orders on his chart. She checked the little box for crutch instruction and pt scheduling, initialed, signed, and dated it. She handed the chart back to the nurse and took the next one. Glancing over it she decided Lt. Andrews needed another 24 in the ward. She filled in obs instructions, adjusted his antibiotic, switched him to a thick liquid diet, did the whole signature bit again and handed it to the nurse.

"Dr. Fraser." Janet looked up to find Dr. Warner approaching. She smiled and took the next chart.

"Good morning Bill. How are you this morning?" Warner's stern features softened a little.

"Fine. I just got in from the Academy hospital. Getting ready to start my rounds. Anything new?" Janet smiled in good humor.

"Nope. At least as of five minutes ago. Bill, I'm allowing Dr. Bergman to wake up this morning. I got a page about oh," Janet took a quick look at her watch, "Twenty minutes ago. I'm going to check on her as soon as I finish up here." Dr. Warner held up his hands.

"You're done. I know you want to be there when she wakes up. I got it here."

"Thanks Bill. I'll buy you a cup of coffee later." Dr. Warner smiled.

"I'll hold you to that Janet." Janet handed the chart over to Warner and headed for the little ICU/ISO room.

There was some noise. What? Beep, beep, swoosh, beep, beep, swoosh, swoosh. Mmmmmm. Floating, weightless, she tried to take a breath and realized she was forced to breathe with the rhythm of the swooshes. Swooshes, was that a word? Why did she care? Beep, beep, sa-woosh, she was becoming solid. She reached out with her mind. Did she feel her fingers? Cautiously, she attempted to wiggle her fingers. First her left hand. Success! Ok, what about the right hand? Ok, not a good idea. Fingers wiggled, but her wrist complained loudly. She continued to assess. Head hurts, a lot. Right clavicle aches. She tried to take a deeper breathe. Oh. My. God. So not a good idea. Broken ribs. Now she was fighting what she new was a ventilator. The beeps speeded up. She broke into a sweat, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes. Oh God! She felt like she was suffocating. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't make any noise, her throat paralyzed to accommodate the vent. She tried to bang her arms on the rails to make some noise. Where was everyone? Why didn't they come? She was screaming, over and over. Help me! Please! She heard movement, shoes running into the room, voices. Someone was here! God, hurry! She felt a burning sensation in her arm, then a warmth spreading through her body. Her breathing slowed and became easier. The noises in the room were receding, becoming tinny and distant. Then nothing.

Janet ran into trauma nurse Eileen Stevens. She had just come on and was going over Kat's chart with nurse Jenkins. The bank of monitors at the nurses station seemed quiet. Suddenly alarms started sounding. Kat's monitors were lit up in red. Shit! Shit! Shit!

"When was her last dose of Diprivan?"

" I dropped her .3 mg ten minutes ago."

"Get me .3 mg Diprivan stat!" Janet yelled over her shoulder as she ran for Kat's room. As soon as she entered she could tell Kat was fighting the vent. Crap! She had to get her calmed down before she hurt herself. She rushed to Kat's side, placed her hands on either side of Kat's face and tried to hold her head still. She'd come up too fast! Way to fast!

"Kat, hush. You're fine. You need to stop fighting the vent." Kat's head rolled wildly side to side as she tried to take a breath. "Kat, slow your breathing honey, come on, you can do it." Janet turned her head toward the door. "Where's that Diprivan? I need it now!" Jenkins rushed in with a pre-filled syringe. She handed it off to Janet, who checked it and injected it into Kat's iv line. "Hold on Kat, hold on. You're ok." Kat quieted, relaxing and going limp. All this fuss, and she never even opened her eyes.

"Eileen, check her hookups and check her chart for the last time she was suctioned. She sounds congested." Eileen nodded.

"Yes mam." She checked Kat's iv line, still good, thank god. Leads are all still good. She re-adjusted the pulse oximeter and checked the readout. Oxygen stats could be better. "Her O2 sat's a little low. Everything else looks good. I'm going to suction her." Eileen reached for the suction pump even as she spoke. She was actually glad Kat was out. Suctioning wasn't painful, but it was a little uncomfortable. It was easier when the patient was out. Your body just automatically tried to fight it.

Janet breathed a sigh of relief and tried to lose the tension in her body. She actually hated the adrenalin rush that followed an incident. She trusted herself, and her nurses, but the body chemistry was just wired for fight or flight. And fighting for someone's life wasn't what nature had in mind. Janet filed away the wet gurgly sound as the suction machine pulled fluid from Kat's lungs. She checked the clear sided container for blood. Nope, still good. They had gotten a break there. Well, that hadn't gone exactly according to plan. Time to regroup and chart a new course. She was going to have to keep a very close watch on the infusion rate. It looked like it would be slow going weaning her off the vent.

Janet picked up Kat's chart and wrote the new infusion rate. She noted Kat's agitated awakening and the consequences. She was going to have to chart out the infusion reduction rate and keep her closely monitored.

"Eileen, check her L.O.C every five minutes. I want her closely monitored as she's brought up and weaned off the vent. Give her thirty minutes to rest and recover, then start decreasing the Diprivan. Take her down .3 mg/kg/h every fifteen minutes. If it looks like she's coming up to fast, hold and call me immediately."

"Yes mam." Eileen heaved a sigh, "She always has to do things the hard way. I was worried there for a minute." Janet regarded the nurse intently.

"Just keep a close eye on her. She'll be fine. She's just making us work for it. I'll be in my office if you need me." Janet handed the chart back to Eileen, "Don't forget to update her file on the computer," and Janet walked out the door deep in thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Sam rubbed her eyes tiredly. It seemed like she'd been staring at her laptop for days. Hmmm, what's this? Who just sent her an e-mail? Interesting. She had an e-mail from "Uncle Harry". Oh please, Sam thought, rolling her eyes.

/Your Uncle Jack and I are having a great time. You know how he loves fishing. Thanks for the map to the best spots. We look forward to making a huge haul. All keepers. Tell your brother's friend T-man that we'll be wrapping up by the end of the week. Say hi to your Uncle George, tell him we said hello, and we wish he was here. He'd love it. Looking forward to coming home, have the cake ready!/

When she came to the end she snorted. If she had any more "uncles" her "cousins" would populate the Springs all by themselves. Sounded like the "fishing" expedition was going well. She shuddered just thinking of going fishing with Uncle Harry. Blech! Then again, set a thief to catch a thief. It was probably time to call a briefing with Uncle George, T-man, Daniel, and Janet. Yep, that's what she'd do.

--

As she walked into the briefing room, Sam saw Teal'c and Daniel already sitting at the table. She could see "Uncle George" talking on the red phone in his office. Janet hadn't arrived yet.

"Hey guys, have you talked to Janet today?" Sam asked as she took a seat opposite Daniel and Teal'c.

"I have not," Teal'c answered, "however I have been in the infirmary with MajorBergman. She is responding to treatment."

"That's good to hear." Sam acknowledged as she placed her folders on the table in front of her.

"So Sam, what's this briefing all about?" Daniel asked as he leaned forward in his chair.

"Guess who I got an e-mail from?"

Daniel shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Uncle Harry."

Teal'c's eyebrow raised.

"Are you referring to HarryMaybourne?"

Sam nodded in affirmation.

"Yep. Seems "Uncle Harry" and "Uncle Jack" want "Uncle George" to come fishing with them." Sam couldn't resist a wicked grin as Daniel rolled his eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me."

Sam's grin deepened.

"Nope! I'm betting the general is in there trying to cover some away time."

Daniel pushed his glasses up on his nose.

"You're kidding, right? There's no way Hammond would leave the base for a mission like that. How would he get approval? Jack's his 2IC. Would Washington be ok with routine maintenance both of them being away from the mountain?"

Sam shrugged her shoulders.

"Sure, under the right circumstances. We're running gate diagnostics and no one's off world or scheduled to go off till next week. Now is the optimum time."

Daniel leaned back in his chair.

"Hunh." A very succinct statement for Daniel.

"It would seem DanielJackson, that GeneralHammond is attempting to make arrangements for an excursion."

"So what happens now?" Daniel asked. "Specifically, what schmuck do we have to put up with in charge?"

"I don't know Daniel," Sam shrugged, "we'll just have to wait and see."

Hammond hung up his red phone, turned slightly, and picked up his black one.

Sam sighed.

"This may take a while."

Teal'c inclined his head knowingly.

"It is often the case is it not, that the planning for battle takes longer than the battle."

Daniel's head snapped up as he locked eyes with Teal'c. Sometimes he actually forgot that Teal'c was a brilliant strategist in his own right. He hadn't become the First Prime of Apophis because he was stupid.

Hammond placed the phone headset on the table and leaned forward and spoke into the intercom.

Hhmm. Sam wondered what that was all about. Curiouser and Curiouser. She didn't have to wait long to find out. Walter walked into the room and cleared his throat.

"General Hammond has asked me to tell you he will meet with you later. Something has come up that he needs to attend to personally." Walter shifted and almost rung his hands. "I guess you could see he was on the phone with the President. Now he needs to follow up on that conversation."

Sam's natural curiosity was piqued.

"Walter, what's he up to?" Sam rose from her chair and approached Walter in a conspiratorial manner. Walter took a step backwards and brought his hands up in a warding manner.

"Mam?" Walter asked in a rising tone. Sam smiled evilly. She softened her voice and slunk up to the poor defenseless little Master Sergeant. Walter stood rooted to the spot like a deer caught in the headlights of an on coming train.

Teal'c settled in to better observe MajorCarter's hunting technique. The Tauri were small and weak compared to Jaffa. But they made up for that by being sneaky. Women especially were adept at this tactic. It seemed to work well for them.

"Walter," Sam purred, "What's the general up to?"

"Ma-ma-mam?" Walter stuttered.

Daniel's eyes widened behind his glasses. Had Sam just purred?

Sam's face lit up with a brilliant smile. She widened her oh so expressive blue eyes and actually fluttered her eyelashes at the poor man. Sam lowered her head and looked up through her eyelashes coyly. Daniel leaned over the table and covered his mouth as snorts and weird sounds escaped from his nose and mouth. He was trying so hard not to totally loose it and ruin Sam's interrogation. But man, it was hard! Poor, poor Walter. As he glanced at the man he became concerned the sergeant might be having a stroke.

Walter's face was red and he was perspiring heavily. He clasped his papers to his chest and moaned.

Sam was sure victory was hers. He couldn't last long under these conditions.

"Walter," Sam sidled up to the sergeant and reached a hand out to his arm, "are you ok? You look a little flushed. Do you need a glass of water?" Sam waved at Daniel behind her back. Daniel lurched to his feet clearing his throat.

"Um, yes, I'll get you a drink of water." As he poured the water he almost lost it again. Stay on target, _stay on target!_ The force is with you young Luke. Oh yeah, like that helped. He'd been watching Star Wars with Teal'c way too much. He teetered as he turned toward Sam and Walter, recovered, and presented the glass to the poor helpless little bastard. He was a little in awe of Sam right now. She had just turned an efficient military man into a puddle of mindless goo in, he glanced at his watch, oh, less than five minutes. Truly awe inspiring.

Walter took the glass with shaking hands. He quickly chugged the liquid and managed to choke on the last gulp. Sam beat him on the back as he coughed viciously. He gasped desperately between coughing fits.

Teal'c watched the adept fisherman (fisherwoman? he was not sure, he would have to ask O'Neill when he returned from his mission) reel in her catch. A work of art. At least until she almost killed him. Hard to get information from a dead informant. Still, the catch may be saved yet.

Oh my god! Sam thought, I've killed Walter. Janet! Help! She kept whacking Walter on the back. She was pretty sure she was leaving bruises. How was she going to explain this? Her career would be damaged. A sergeant wasn't as bad as a general, but if it ever came out that she was indirectly responsible, well, thank god she had saved the planet a bunch of times. Surely that would count for something.

Walter's coughing died down and Daniel grabbed Sam's "whacking" hand.

"Sam, he's ok. You can stop beating the man on the back now. Before you break something."

Sam froze. Daniel was right. Walter was breathing again, even if he was kind of wheezing a bit. Well, ok, a lot. But still, **breathing. She nodded to Daniel and he let go of her arm. Walter struggled to a chair and collapsed into it. He fanned his face with his soggy paperwork and inhaled huge shuddering breaths. Sam wrung her hands in anxiety.**

"**Are you ok? Do you want me to call the infirmary? Janet's supposed to be here. I don't know why she's not? Daniel, call the infirmary!" Sam stopped spewing words and tried to reign in her panic. Look, the man is ok. No harm no foul. You're a major in the Air Force for cryin' out loud. Get a grip! You've been shot at and tortured by Goa'uld system lords! What's one measly little choking incident? She reached out a hand to gently pat Walter on the shoulder, but he flinched away from her touch. Holy Hannah! The man was terrified of her! Sam retreated a couple of steps to give him space. She was never going to live this down. She knew it would be all through the base as soon as Walter could talk to Siler. She groaned out loud. Jack was going to have a field day with this one. "Jack"? Oops. "The Colonel". That was better. Anyway, she was sure it would haunt her for years. If she lived that long. **

**Daniel handed a tissue to Walter, who blew his nose and sighed in exhaustion. The siren effect was broken. Too bad really. It had been quite fun to watch. Daniel was immeasurably happy he hadn't been on the receiving end this time. Jack would have been riding him about it unmercifully for ages. Huh. This time it would be Sam on the receiving end. He almost felt sorry for her. Almost.**

**Walter tried to slow his uneven breathing. He didn't even remember why he was in the room. He should be at his desk shouldn't he? He placed his hands on the table and pushed back up to his feet. He reached for the paperwork on the table, said a quick "thank you mam" and tried to escape back to safe territory. He had to fight an overwhelming urge to hide under his desk. Where did that come from? He shook his head and quickly scuttled from the room.**

**Sam turned to Daniel and Teal'c with a worried frown marring her usually smiling face. Well, that didn't go well. She hadn't learned anything and almost killed an innocent bystander at the same time. She needed to watch Janet in action again. Apparently she still had a lot to learn about being a femme fatale.**

"**Don't worry Sam," Daniel consoled, " that probably would have worked on anyone but Walter and Siler. You need to go out with Janet some more, and check her technique." Daniel grinned at Sam's startled look.**

"**W-w-hat?" Sam stuttered. Daniel grinned and wrapped a brotherly arm around his geek sister.**

"**What? You think we don't know about your ladies nights out?" **

**Sam couldn't help it. She felt a blush creeping up her chest, neck, and face. Was it hot in here? Whoa! Who turned up the thermostat?**

"**Wha-what? What are you…." Sam slowed to a stop. How could she deny it? It was true after all. "Okay fine. You win. So I've been getting some Mata Hari lessons from Janet and some of her nurses." Daniel cleared his throat and looked at her over his glasses. "AndCassie." she quickly mumbled.**

"**Who?" Daniel prodded. **

**Sheesh! She was better off fighting the Goa'uld. Maybe she could move in with the Tok'ra. "okay", she sighed loudly, "Cassie. Cassie gives me make up and clothes hints. Satisfied?"**

"**Yep", Daniel replied, "I just wanted you to admit it." **

**Sam growled and turned to walk out the door in a huff.**

"**MajorCarter," Teal'c called. Are we dismissed?" **

**Sam stopped and stood stiffly a minute before slowly turning around.**

"**Yes Teal'c'" she ground out, "I guess we are. Go back to whatever you were doing when I called you. I have experiments to run and doohickey's to take apart. Daniel." She nodded and turned and walked from the room. Daniel turned to Teal'c.**

"**Was it something I said?"**

**Teal'c merely sighed and stood up.**

"**DanielJackson, you have much to learn about females. In many cases, less is more. Learn when to cease talking. It may save your life one day." **

**Daniel's mouth dropped open.**

"**What? What did I say? Where are you going? Teal'c?" Daniel was talking to Teal'c's back. Hey, wait up. Teal'c! Daniel grabbed his notebook from the briefing table and hurried after the Jaffa warrior. Women and Jaffa. Who knew what they were going to do? Totally unpredictable. Both of them.**


	3. Chapter 3

_SSITN chapter3_

AN/ Sorry it's short, had a lot of out of town guests, work, and doctor visits. Definitely more this weekend!

_Jack wished for the thousandth time that he had his yo-yo or gameboy with him. He was going __**nuts! **__Maybourne was enough to drive anyone bonkers. He was trying to remember why he had thought it was a good idea to involve the sneaky bastard. Oh yeah. He was trying to catch sneaky bastards in the act of being sneaky bastards. Right. So he'd just have to shower really good when he got home. No different than any other mission. Glancing over at "his" sneaky bastard, he found Maybourne immersed in whatever information he had managed to pull up on his laptop. He figured Maybourne would holler if he managed to grab anything useful. He got up to get the TV remote control from the top of the TV. He then backtracked to "his" bed and hopped on with a bounce. The bed springs complained tiredly. They really needed a better quality motel. If Teal'c was here, he'd be very disappointed that there were no "magic fingers" on these beds. Yep, T really liked those things. Jack stacked the pillows against the headboard and flopped back against them. He crossed one leg over the other, aimed the remote at the TV, and pressed the button. Nothing. He aimed and pressed again. Nothing. Jack whacked the remote against his other hand, aimed and pressed the button. Nothing. Oh for cryin' out loud! He whacked the remote against the night table three or four times. He carefully aimed at the sensor on the TV and pressed the button again. Still nothing. Jack grunted and raised his arm to throw the remote at the TV._

"_Jack! Don't throw the remote! Get up and turn the TV on at the wall switch." Harry didn't turn around. He just continued typing. Jack's head jerked toward Harry. How the hell did he do that?_

"_What?"_

"_The wall switch Jack. Flip the switch, __then_ use the remote." Type-ity type type type.

"Huh, that's just plain stupid Harry. Why would the TV need a wall switch?" Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. He knew Jack wasn't stupid. He was bored. And a bored Jack O'Neill was annoying and dangerous.

"Because J-a-c-k. That's what hotels and motels do. Anything to annoy and confuse Jack O'Neill. Just do it, ok?" Jack grumbled and rolled to a sitting position, then stood up. More grumbling as he walked to the wall and started flipping switches.

"Jack! Be careful, you'll …" Now it was Harry's turn to groan, grumble, and mutter. Shit! Shit. Shit. Shit! Harry turned silently in his chair to face Jack. His eyes were murderous.

Jack swallowed. Oops. Um, yeah, how to get out of this one?

"Found it." Jack tried in a helpful tone.

"Found what Jack? The switch to the outlet the laptops hooked up to?" Jack tried his best innocent little boy look. Hey, it was worth a try!

"Of course not Maybourne! I found the switch for the TV." Yeah, that sounded pretty good. He rocked back and forth on his feet.

"No Jack, not the TV switch. **You shut off the power to the laptop! I lost everything!**"

"Carter always says "_save, save, save, save again_". How come you didn't save your work Maybourne?" Jack asked innocently. Yeah, shoes on the other foot now baby!

"Jack, sit down on the bed and don't get up until I tell you to." Harry said using his command voice. Unfortunately, his command voice didn't work well on Jack.

"I think I'll go get some ice. Need anything from the snack machine? Chips? Doritos? Three Musketeers? A coke?"

"Just **go **Jack. **NOW**! Before I shoot you."

"Hey! No need to get all touchy." Jack picked up his gun and shoved it into the back of his jeans, grabbed the ice bucket, patted his right front pocket for the room key, and walked to the door.

"You're sure now, you don't want anything?" Jack tried again.

"No Jack. Please. Just. Go." Jack shrugged his shoulders and opened the door.

"I'll be right back. Holler if you need anything." Jack felt his left front pocket. Yep, cell was there.

"Go Jack."

"Ok already. I'm going. I'm gone." Jack walked through the door and pulled it closed behind him.

"Finally," Harry muttered grumpily. "Now I can get some work done."

Meanwhile, back at the SGC……..

Sam twitched. What the heck was that? Her Dad used to say someone just walked over his grave when he got one of those shivers. It was almost like someone was talking about her behind her back. Weird. Shaking her head, she focused her attention back on the doohickey under her microscope. It felt odd not having the Colonel popping in and messing with her stuff. Mind you, she was actually getting some work done for a change. But she kinda missed him. Sam checked her watch. Hmmm. Time for a break.

She'd just go see if Daniel wanted to go get a cup of coffee. He was pretty much always up for that. She pushed her chair back from the table and stood stiffly. Whoa. She'd been sitting there way too long. As she stood there and stretched out her back, her mind continued to drift. Hmmm. I wonder if Teal'c is busy. Yeah. I'll stop by Daniel's lab, and then we can go see if Teal'c is hungry. She snorted inelegantly. Of course Teal'c was hungry. Teal'c was always ready to eat. It was a Jaffa thing. She patted her left front pocket. Yep, she had her cell. She patted her right breast pocket. Yep, her id card was where it was supposed to be. As Sam reached the door she flicked the light switch and shivered again. That was really odd. It wasn't cold in the room at all. Shaking her head Sam pulled the door closed behind her. She waited long enough to hear the lock catch, and started off down the hallway. She wondered if General Hammond had made his arrangements yet. And then she wondered if Walter was ok, and if he'd talked to Siler yet. Maybe they could swing by the infirmary and grab Janet. Janet needed breaks too. And she could ask her about Cassie. She had been off world the last three weekends. She had really missed her visits with Cassandra. Sam smiled evilly. She couldn't wait to get the dirt on Cassie's latest boyfriend. Oh yeah. This was going to be great. The guys were always interested in what was going on in Cassie's life.

Jack strolled up to the snack and ice area in the hallway. Whistling tunelessly he shoved the plastic ice bucket into the opening in the machine. He pressed the button and waited for the clatter of falling ice cubes. And waited. Hmm. He pushed the little red button again. Still nothing. Frowning he hit the machine a couple of times to dislodge any ice dams. And pushed the button again. GRRRr-crunch-grind-grr-dink. One pitiful ice cube fell into the bucket. All by itself. Sighing Jack hit the machine a couple of times and tried again. Grrr-grind-crunch-grr-dink-dink. Wow! Two whole ice cubes! Maybe they didn't really need any ice. On to the snack machine. Baked chips, original chips, Doritos, wow chips, (hunh, wow chips?) m&m's, bagged popcorn, three different kinds of gum, life savers, cheese and peanut butter crackers. Well, that was totally uninspiring. Maybe he'd just go to the bar. Yeah, that sounded better. Jack turned back to the room to get rid of the pitiful bucket of ice. He reached into his pocket for the room key as he approached the door. He inserted the key, turned it and carefully opened the door. Harry had the drop on him.

"Put the Glock down Harry." Jack said softly, while walking smoothly into the room. Harry returned the Glock to it's resting place on the table next to the laptop.

"Well geeze Jack, give a guy a little warning would ya. He turned back to his laptop. "What's for dinner Jack?" Jack set the bucket by the bathroom sink.

"Well Harry, I'm headed to the motel bar. Want me to bring something back?"

"Sure Jack, bring me a cheeseburger and fries. And a beer."

"How ya want it Harry? Mayo, catsup, mustard? How about onions and pickles?"

"Yeah."

Jack blinked.

"Okie-dokie. Beer?"

"Yes."

Jack looked at the ceiling for help from above.

"**Maybourne!**" Jack growled.

"I don't care Jack. Whatever. Now get out of here so I can get some work done." Jack checked his back pocket for his wallet. Just to be sure, he pulled it out and flipped it open. Sweet. Cash and credit cards. He was good to go.

"Call me if you find anything interesting. The guys should be checking in later."

"The guys? Here or at the SGC?"

"Yeah." Smirking, Jack left the building.

Sam stepped into the doorway of Daniel's lab and knocked on the door frame.

"Knock knock," said Sam. Daniel looked up from the stack of books that were in imminent danger of cascading off of his desk and onto the floor. He was trying to figure out what the heck the language was on an artifact SG-4 had brought back. He smiled as his eyes focused on Sam.

"Hey Sam. Having any luck on your project?" Sam shook her head in frustration as she approached Daniel's table.

"Nope," she said succinctly, "nichts, nada, niyet, nothing, zip, zilch. Absolutely no idea. You up for a coffee break? We can try and drag Teal'c and Janet along too!"

Daniels face lit up. Coffee. Yeah, sure. SG-4 could wait a little while for the translation. It wasn't like they were going off world anytime soon. Daniel stuck a piece of paper in the top book that was open on his desk.

"You want to call Janet?" Daniel asked. "Teal'c's either there on guard duty or working out in the gym." Daniel started checking his pockets for his ID card. He needed to lock up on his way out, and he didn't want to have to ask someone (Siler) to unlock his lab. OK, his id wasn't in his pockets. Where else could it be? Hrm. Let's see, I walked into the lab this morning, dropped my backpack and folders on the table and floor, and headed over to the coffee machine to get a pot brewing. Maybe it was there? Sam grinned at Daniel as she picked up the receiver and dialed Janet's extension. It rang once and Janet picked up.

"Frasier."

"Hey Janet, care to join Daniel and me for a cup of coffee? We're trying to find Teal'c and drag him along too." Janet checked her watch and smiled in anticipation.

"Oh yeah! I've got an hour before my next patient. Unless Siler limps in for his daily visit." Janet frowned as she reconsidered her statement. Shaking her head at her stupidity, she frowned and huffed in aggravation.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Oh nothing. I just made a first year intern mistake."

"What are you talking about?" Sam asked.

"Oh Sam, surely you have experienced the same thing. Never, but never, ever! say things are slow .Because that's guaranteed to cause the shit to hit the fan. I've probably just jinxed myself. Hurry up! Before things go to hell in a basket!"

"Is Teal'c there?"

"He should be, at least he was the last time I checked on Kat. You know, he's really taking his security detail seriously. I'm really, **really **glad he's on our side . So hurry up! Grab Daniel and move it! STAT! " Sam laughed, causing Daniel to look up as he finally found his ID by the coffee maker.

"What?" Daniel asked. Sam held a finger up to put Daniel on hold.

"We'll be right there Jan. See if you can get Teal'c to take a break with us. We'll be right there." Sam hung up and turned to Daniel. "Ready?" Daniel did an eyebrow waggle and held his ID up triumphantly.

"What was that all about?" Daniel asked.

"Just something Janet said, maybe we can get her to explain over cake and coffee. She said to hurry up before the next crisis erupted."

"After you mam," Daniel said, performing a mini bow and stretching his arm out toward the door.

"Why thank you sir," Sam said, doing a little dip and preceding him into the hall.


	4. Chapter 4

_SSITN Chapter 4  
_

A/N Hope you enjoy, this may be it until next weekend. I'll try though. They told me at work that's I'd be back on the phones taking calls from 3:00 - 5:00 every day indefinitely. ICK! I hate being on the phones. It's been two years since I had to do it. My luck has finally run out. I'm nervous. Anywho, read away!

_Jack followed a group of truckers through the glass door into the darkened interior of the self described "pub". Ah, Jack thought. Beer…… Coolness….. A little oasis in the middle of nowhere. He followed the truckers to the bar at the back of the room. There was a hallway to the left of the bar leading to the restrooms and outside. Another room branched off the back wall to the right. As Jack leaned against the bar waiting for his turn, he quickly scanned the rest of the room. There were a few singles and couples scattered around the bar at round tables, and booths lining the wall. He spotted a small table right by the hallway to the left. Looked to be perfect for scoping the place out. The truckers grabbed their beers and headed for one of the larger tables, The bartender approached Jack with a friendly smile. He had gray hair, a bit of a belly, and appeared to be very laid back._

"_What's your pleasure?"_

"_Guinness in a bottle." Jack replied. "Ya got anything to eat in here?"_

"_Yup, I'll get you a menu." The bartender slid a menu out from behind the bar and reached under the bar to pull out a very cold bottle of beer. "You going to take a seat or sit here?" Jack raised the bottle to his lips and took a long pull from the bottle._

"_Mmmm, hit's the spot. I'll grab a table. Order here or from the table?"_

" _Order up here when you decide what you want, I'll call you back up when it's ready. I'll phone your order in to the restaurant and they'll bring it over."_

"_Thanks. I'll take a look and let you know." The bartender nodded and moved on to the lady who had just come up to the bar. Jack pocketed his change and strolled to the table in the corner. Taking a seat with his back to the wall, he perused the menu. It had the common offerings. Although slightly more than the usual, since it was using the restaurant attached to the motel. What to choose? Special tonight was spaghetti and meatballs. There was a tasty looking fish sandwich that came with or without onion rings or fries and coleslaw. There were wings, sandwiches, burgers, and salads. The soups looked good too. Even had a baked potato soup in a bread bowl. Yum! And, they had everything available to go. Actually, there were maybe too many choices. Jack closed his eyes and poked the menu with his finger. He opened one eye to see what he had just chosen. Hm, looked like he was having the soup of the day and a salad. The soup of the day was a loaded baked potato soup in a bread bowl, with bacon bits, onions, and shredded cheese with sour cream on top. He had a choice of Caesar salad, garden salad, or fruit salad. Again with the closed eyes and the finger stab. Opening his eye, he had picked the garden salad. OK, ready to place his order. He left his beer at the table and approached the bar. The bartender waved at him and finished serving the couple in front of him. While Jack waited, he looked around the room again. It was still early, so not a lot of action going on. The truckers had moved to the back room and Jack heard the clinking of pool balls. Carter would have loved taking on those truckers. He couldn't help thinking of her brilliant game that ended up getting them kicked out of O'Malley's. The corners of his mouth quirked up. Yep, Carter in all of her glory. Methodically taking down the big tuff biker dudes. He snapped back to attention as the bartender stopped in front of him._

"_Ready to order?" he asked. _

"_Yep. I'll have the soup of the day with everything on it. Make that a garden salad with ranch dressing. I would like to place a to go order. Want it now, or later?"_

"_You can place it now, and I'll order for you when you're about ready to go. Just give me a wave. As long as I nod back, I got you covered. You can wait to pay until you're ready to go. You can run a beer tab." Jack grinned. Not bad for a little old' motel bar. _

"_If you want, you can put it on your room tab. Makes no difference to me."_

"_I'll pay up before I leave." _

"_Fine, by the way, my names Scott. Just give me holler if you need anything." Jack inclined his head._

"_Thanks Scott. I'm Jack by the way. Just give me a call and I'll come up for the food." Scott nodded and turned to the back of the bar to call in the order. Jack ambled back to his table and took a seat. He scooted his chair back a little, and picking up his bottle, he tipped back and watched the comings and goings in the little bar. His phone rang and he plucked it from his pocket. _

"_O'Neill."_

"_Sir, can you talk?"_

"_Sure Carter, I wouldn't have answered if it was bad timing." He just knew Carter was rolling her eyes at him. "What Ya got?" Sam cleared her throat. _

"_Just wondering how things are going sir. Did you know Maybourne e-mailed me?" Jack frowned._

"_What did he want?"_

"_Mostly just to tell us you were in position. He said he and "uncle Jack" wished "uncle George" was able to come fishing with you guys." Hmpf. Interesting. _

"_So, what did George say to that?"_

"_He's moving Heaven and Earth to come fish with you guys." OK, that would be interesting._

_"Tell your Uncle George to give me a call. We'll make arrangements to meet him. The more the merrier __I always say."_

"_Yes sir. How's the fishing been?"_

"_Not too bad, wish you were here. I know you'd just love it. Sitting around waiting for the fish to bite. __So_ right up your alley." Sam snorted loudly into the phone.

"Right sir, nothing I'd rather be doing than fishing."

"But you'd just love the fish that are biting. I know how you love to cook them up over a nice little camp fire."

"Camp fire sir? I thought you were staying in a motel." Jack groaned.

"We are Carter. I just know how you like camping so much. And cooking."

"Right sir. Good luck with the fishing. I'll tell Uncle George to give you a call. Bye sir."

Bye Carter. Oh and carter." Sam sighed.

"Yes sir?"

Say hi to T and Danny boy. Bye."

"Bye sir." Jack closed his phone to end the call and took another pull on his beer. So, George wanted to come play. And Maybourne was e-mailing Carter? Who knew?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o

Sam hung up the phone and found Daniel watching her.

"How long have you been there?" Daniel shrugged and approached her lab table.

"Long enough. You really didn't know I was there?" he asked hopefully.

"I wasn't paying attention. My bad. Anything new?"

"Not really. How's Jack?" Sam ducked her head trying to hide her shit eating smile. She gave up and burst out laughing.

"You have no idea. Actually, you do. They're making progress. The colonel's having supper and a beer. I was afraid to ask what he was taking back to Maybourne." She shivered. "Icky. I know he's helped us out a lot. And he's really a lot better than he used to be. But still, ick." Daniel could only nod in agreement.

"I came to tell you Teal'c called. Janet's getting ready to wake up Dr. Bergman. Wanna go see how it goes?"

"Do you think Janet will let us be there?"

"Teal'c said she'd open the observation window if we want to observe. She wants to extubate her as soon as possible." Sam looked at Daniel in surprise. Daniel just flashed innocent puppy eyes at her.

"What?" Daniel asked innocently. Sam just shook her head.

"Either you've been hanging out with Janet an awful lot, or you've been her guest in the infirmary way too much."

"Yes." Daniel said in response. "Yes to both actually. Anyway, Janet said if they didn't get her off of the vent in about a weeks time total, they'd have to pull the tube and do a trach."

"Yeah, put that way, definitely better to extubate. Let's go." Sam hooked her arm through Daniel's and pulled him out the door and down the hallway to the elevators.

0o0o0oo00oo0o0o0o0o

Janet began rounding up supplies and assistants. It was time for her friend to wake up. She needed to get her off the vent, the sooner the better. Each day added dependence and complications. The last thing she wanted was for her friend to be ventilator dependent. And it could easily happen. The longer she spent hooked up to the machine, the greater the chance for infection to set in. Her meetings with the orthopaedic surgeon were basically positive. Hopefully Kat would return to active duty. Hopefully. Her prognosis was improving. But the next major step was getting her off of the vent.

"Dr. Fraiser, I've got the drug tray for you. She's right at the dosage level where she should be coming to any minute."

"Thanks Eileen. I'll be right there." Janet was closing Kat's chart when Sam, Daniel, and Teal'c approached her.

"DoctorFraiser, may we observe the process of removing the tube? I wish to see how AnnaKathleen responds." Janet ran through her options quickly and nodded in the affirmative.

"Yeah, sure. Go to the obs room and open the curtain. I'll open the intercom from inside. Better hurry."

"Thanks Janet, we're there." Sam replied, ushering Teal'c and Daniel ahead of her. She wasn't going to give Janet time to reconsider. They hustled into the little side room and quickly opened the curtain. They saw Janet enter the room and walk to the wall and push the intercom button. Daniel reached out and did the same to their side. Conversation could go both ways.

Inside the little room, Janet checked the readings on the banks of machines and readouts. Kat was breathing easily with the vent, not fighting it. Her E.E.G. readings showed she was rising from medium sedation to light sedation. Shouldn't be long now. Eileen gave her a thumbs up. Here we go.

Slowly and quietly she was becoming aware. She was very calm, almost lethargic. She was gradually becoming aware of "being". Next were sounds filtering in. Gradually becoming louder and more distinct. She struggled to understand what she was hearing, and what she was feeling. No pain. No movement. At first she felt light, almost non corporeal. Gradually she noticed a feeling of heaviness settling on her. She couldn't move anything. But she didn't care either. She felt so very mellow. It was nice. All was right within her little world. What was that?

"Eileen, rub her left arm and hand. She needs some stimulation." Eileen nodded and gently stroked her friends arm and the back of her hand. Janet began stroking Kat's face and her hair.

"Wakey wakey sweetie. Time to wake up now. Come on sweetie. Your fans are a waitin'." Sam snorted and Teal'c's eyebrow rose. Most unusual these Tauri.

"Try not to move around too much. Don't try to talk. You've got a tube down your throat. We would love to remove it for you. Wouldn't we Eileen?" Eileen nodded, then realized she had to speak so Kat would know she was there.

"I miss you babe. Come on and wake up for me." Kat rolled her head to the left and tried to open extremely heavy eyelids. She would have moaned her displeasure if she could have. The fingers on her left hand twitched reflexively.

"That a girl. Come on, open your beautiful blue eyes," Janet coaxed. Kat rolled her head a little to the right.

"Don't fight it Kat. You're on a ventilator. You're in a hospital room. My hospital actually. Welcome to the SGC major. Open your eyes now. That's an order."

Kat struggled to process what she was hearing. Who was giving her orders? She didn't want to wake up. She was all nice and comfy. Wait a minute. Why was she in a hospital? She tried really hard to flutter her eyes open. Now she wanted answers, Damnit. Looked like she was going to wake up whether she wanted to or not.

"Her pulse if picking up Doctor. Looks like she's a little pissed we're making her open her eyes." Janet nodded in agreement. Her friend was usually good natured. However. Probably not this time.

"Anna Kathleen Bergman, this is your best friend speaking. Now open your goddamn eyes." Janet said in a commanding tone of voice. Kat tried to move her right arm and stiffened immediately. The heart monitor kicked up a fuss.

"Kat, you're ok. Just relax and let the pain go. I'll give you a dose of morphine, but I need you awake first." Janet and Eileen could see Kat's forehead crease with a frown as she tried to calm herself. Yes! Kat was back in the building. Kat's brow smoothed out and she fluttered her eyes again, struggling to open them. She almost had them opened and slammed them shut again. It was freaking bright in the room! Janet and Eileen figured it out together. Eileen reached for the pull string and dimmed the lights in the room.

"Try again Kat, we dimmed the lights for you." Kat knew that voice. What was Janet doing here with her? Janet was in Colorado Springs. Wait. Janet had said she was in "her" hospital. What was _she doing in Colorado Springs? She still didn't remember what had happened to land her in a hospital. Oh well. Must. Open. The. Eyes. She knew that if she didn't have a tube down her throat, she would have groaned in frustration. She tried to relax and breathe with the darned machine instead of fighting for control. Hoozah! Success. Her eyes opened, and behold! A blurry hospital room. And she was the patient. Shit! _

"_Very good Kat. We're going to wean you off of the vent. You know what that means. You have an hour of decreased pressure to adapt to while you take over your own breathing. Eileen is putting a call button in your left hand. If you feel discomfort or like you need to be suctioned, press the button. OK? Open you eyes again sweetie so I can see if you're in there." Kat rolled her head toward Janet's voice and obediently opened both eyes. She blinked hard trying to focus. _

"_Kat, if you understand what I've told you, blink once." Kat blinked once in reply. "Good job. Your very good friend Eileen is here with you. She's going to be sitting right next to you while we dial down the vent. Try not to fight it, and in about an hour you can have a nice cool drink." Shit! Now she was thirsty. Thanks Jan! She could feel the tube, it didn't choke or gag her, she knew her throat had been paralyzed to allow the tube to rest comfortably. Unfortunately, her lip was killing her. Also unfortunately, she couldn't exactly tell anyone that, now could she. Ah well, close your eyes and go to your happy place Kathleen. Where was that again? Oh yeah, she had it. A whole freaking hour! This was going to be miserable. Oh yeah, happy place. She could do this. Happy place……. _

_Smiling, Janet gave her friends a broad smile and a thumbs up. She motioned for them to meet her in the hall._


	5. Chapter 5

SSITN chapter 5

AN/ Sorry it's been so long. My job was sucking the creativity right out of me. It's been a tough couple of weeks. Hopefully things will ease up a little. Here we go.

Such a simple thing really. Just lie in bed, doing nothing for an hour. So simple even someone in a vegetative state could do it. Kat rolled her eyes. Yeah. That was about the only thing she felt comfortable moving. Her nose wrinkled. No, her nose did not itch. Think about something else. What? Anything! She tried to relax and go with the machine that was breathing for her. Something that was easily done while unconscious, but way more difficult when awake. God! OK, calm down. It's not so hard. Man was her mouth dry. Her bottom lip sure hurt. It hurt worse than her obviously broken wrist. How could a little piece of plastic be so heavy? Go to your happy place Kat. You can do this. How much time had passed? O-kay, this was only an hour. She could do this. Sure she could. What to think about, what to think about? OK, a) how the hell did she get to Cheyenne Mountain? B) when did Eileen start working here? Last time she was conscious, the both of them were hundreds of miles away from Cheyenne Mountain. C) what the hell had happened to her? She honestly couldn't remember. Could it possibly be all the happy place drugs coursing through her veins? Even taking into account the really nice drugs, still you'd think she would remember what had landed her in the hospital.

"Kat, I can hear you thinking, you know you think too much. Just relax. You've got fifty minutes to go, so just lay there and enjoy your little vacation. We'll talk just as soon as you're able to."

Eileen knew her friend was frustrated. Not being able to communicate was the most frustrating thing in the world. But she couldn't tell her anything yet. She didn't dare get her upset until she was off of the vent. Then, all bets were off. As a matter of fact, she was looking forward to the time when they would be able to let off a little steam and actually have some fun.

Kat slowly turned her head to face her friend. She was missing something. And from the way that her entire body hurt, it was something pretty big. She continued to wrack her brain. It was in there somewhere. She just needed to remember something and move forward from there. It might take her mind off of the tube in her mouth. Yeah right. So, focus. Let's see. Where to start? OK, last posting. Armpit of the world. She'd take Iraq to the little hell hole she called home these days. She remembered the good and the bad. Her old friend Eileen was posted there with her. That was great! She had met a nice young nurse, jeez, what was her name? She'd met so many people over the last twenty years. Think Kat, what's her name. She has a cute little girl. Elaine! Yeah, she rocked! What's her daughter's name? Think, think, think. She suddenly had a flash of Winnie the Pooh, finger tapping, saying over and over in his Winnie the Pooh voice, which just happened to be Sterling Holloway's voice, think, think, think. OK, now she felt old. And more than a little Alzheimery. Was that a word? Well now it was. If only in her poor dented head. Now what was it she trying to remember? Maybe some more drugs would help. Yeah, that sounded about right. She would have heaved a huge sigh if she had been able to. Unfortunately, she couldn't. So she did the only thing she could and banged the back of her so called good arm against the safety rails of her bed. Yeah, that made a satisfying banging noise. She felt better already.

Eileen had been writing in Kat's chart and jumped when she thumped the rail on her bed. She put the chart down and approached Kat's bed carefully. You never knew when she'd find a weapon of some sort and fling it your way.

"Need something? Need to be suctioned? Or just a sit rep?"

Kat just blinked at her. What did she want her to say? Why yes Eileen, please suction my tube? And while you're at it, could you fluff my pillows? And take this stupid piece of plastic out of my throat already!

"You're doing fine by the way. You've managed to get through fifteen minutes. You're a quarter of the way there. Now really, did you need suctioning?"

Good grief Eileen! What do you want me to do? Charades? Get me a pencil and paper you nit! Wait, she was right handed. That hand was currently in a cast. And if she wasn't mistaken, her right clavicle wasn't too happy either. Well, wasn't that just dandy. She was crap at writing left handed.

"Here, go to you're happy place while I suction you. You'll feel better." Eileen pulled the cart with the suction machine closer to her head. Kat quickly squeezed her eyes tightly shut and attempted to go to her happy place. While she pictured a nice quiet pond on a pleasantly warm day she could nonetheless hear the suction machine kick in. She tried to picture herself laid back in a nice little rowboat, on a nice soft pad. The boat gently rocked with the quiet splash of gentle waves against the little boat. She could almost feel the slight cooling and dimming as nice soft clouds intermittently crossed in front of the sun. She was almost there.

"There, all done. That should be better. Why don't you take a little nappy pooh. It'll make the time pass more quickly." Eileen's soft soled medical clogs quietly moved a little distance away.

Nappy pooh? Did she really just say that? You are so going to pay my little friend. Oh hell, who was she kidding. Eileen was a good six to twelve inches taller than she was. Still, she could be creative. She'd find a way to get her revenge. Mentally rubbing her hands together and doing an evil villain laugh, she began to plot her revenge.

Forty-five minutes later she woke up again. Hm-mm. They hadn't given her anything. She knew they needed her to be able to breathe more or less easily on her own. And the only way to see if she could do that, was to have her more or less conscious. She heard several pairs of shoes approaching. She cracked her eyes open to check her surroundings. Not too bad, though she did blink several times trying to bring her world into focus. That accomplished she tried to eaves drop on the voices approaching her bed. She could make out Eileen and Janet. And someone else she didn't recognize. Janet stopped on her right and Eileen and the unknown woman were on her left.

"Hey Kat," the unknown voice said. "I'm Dr. Stanton. I'm your pulmonary specialist. How about we take that nasty ole tube out now? That okay with you?"

Kat tried to turn to her left. She gave a quick nod and closed her eyes to prepare herself.

"Alright Kat, breathe out when I tell you. One. Two. Three. Breathe out. As Kat tried to breathe out and expel the hated tube, she realized she didn't feel anything. Except for the pressure easing on her lip. "OK, that nasty old thing is out. Don't take a deep breathe, just a nice normal one." Kat tried an experimental breath. Oh bliss! She inhaled and exhaled, and inhaled again. It was the best thing she had ever felt. Sex was definitely overrated. But then, most people didn't live their lives on ventilators. She opened her mouth to thank the doctor, but absolutely nothing came out. Not even a sigh. That was annoying. But, who cared really? She was off the vent and breathing on her own.

"How about we raise your head a little Kat?" Janet asked as she pressed the button to raise her friends head. "There, that should make it easier for you to breathe. Any pain? Scratch that. I know you're in pain. Do you need another hit of happy juice?" Kat knew Janet was smiling when she said that. She nodded her head in affirmative. "Here you go. You should feel a nice warmth soon. It's not a heavy dose, just enough to knock the edge off. I need you awake for a couple of hours. Thanks for your help Linda, I know Kat thanks you too. You're invited to girls night out just as soon as we all get a night off."

"You're welcome Janet. See you later Kat. I've got to get over to the Academy hospital and do rounds over there. I'm glad I was here to help out. Let me know what her stats are later. Bye." Kat could hear "Linda" walking away. So far so good. Ah, she could feel every muscle relaxing as the morphine kicked in. The good stuff. She experimentally tried to whisper, and still nothing came out. Interesting. She didn't care one little bit. She could feel herself sinking back into the mattress. Yep, may not last long, but definitely the good stuff.

Kat woke to a feeling of bustling around her bed. She quickly became oriented and blinked her eyes open. Looked like they were getting ready to transfer her to another room. Cool.

"Dr. Frasier, sleeping beauty is awake."

Funny Eileen. You're just digging yourself in deeper.

"Welcome back Kat, you seem to have lost your morphine resistance. You were out like a light. Feel better after your nap?"

Kat swallowed dryly.

"Yes," she croaked. Whoopee, success. "What happened?" she cleared her throat and swallowed again. "How and when did I get here? Why did I get here?" her mouth felt like cotton. "Water?" she asked hoarsely. Janet signaled Eileen and walked closer to Kat.

"You were in a training accident. Do you remember?"

Well duh! Didn't she just say she didn't?

"No, I don't remember. I asked you first." Eileen returned with a plastic cup of water with a straw in it.

"Here Kat. Little sips." Eileen tilted the cup towards Kat and held it for her. She took several slow swallows and pulled back a little. Eileen took the cup away and put it on a tray.

"Anna Kathleen Bergman, be nice. We'll talk after we get you settled in the ward. I might need this space for another critical patient. I hope not, but you know how it is. Eileen, go round up a corpsman to help move Miss smarty pants. Oops, you don't have pants on do you? Miss almost necked." Janet snorted. Sometimes she cracked herself up. Could be she just needed some sleep. Or some time off. Now that would be great!

"Dr. Frasier to General Hammond's office, Dr. Frasier to General Hammond's office."

Well shoot, there went their reunion. And it was going so well.

"I have to go Kat, I'll be back to see you and go over your condition as soon as I can. I can't keep generals waiting, even for you." Janet leaned in, picked up Kat's left hand, and squeezed it softly. "I'm really glad you're going to be OK. I've missed you, you know. Eileen will be back soon. I'll see you later." Janet squeezed her hand again and left.

Huh, that was nice. She wondered what was up with the general. What was his name? She should be able to remember it. Janet had just told her. Oh pooh! It didn't really matter. She settled in again and thought happy thoughts.


	6. Chapter 6

AN / Sorry about the long wait between chapters. Work was nasty. Then there was the trip to Chicago for Creation Chicago 2008. It was fantastic by the way. Can't wait for next year.

Silent Screams in the Night chapter 6

Such a simple thing really. Just lie in bed, doing nothing for an hour. So simple even someone in a vegetative state could do it. Kat rolled her eyes in disgust. Yeah. That was about the only thing she felt comfortable moving. Her nose wrinkled. No no no! Her freakin' nose did not itch. Think about something else, anything else! Ok, so that wasn't so easy under the circumstances. When you're stuck flat on your back and have a tube jammed down your throat, there's not a whole lot you can do to occupy your mind. She tried to clear her thoughts and allow the ventilator to breathe for her. Something that was easily done while unconscious, but way more difficult when awake. Oh for cryin' out loud! Her bottom lip felt like someone had punched her in the mouth. It was more painful than her obviously broken wrist. How could a little piece of plastic be so darned heavy? Go to your happy place Kat. You can do this. How much time had passed? O-k, she only had to put up with this for an hour. She knew from experience that you could endure a lot in an hour. She could do this, sure she could. What to think about, what to think about? Ok, a) how the hell did she get to Cheyenne Mountain? B) when did Eileen get transferred to Cheyenne Mountain? The last time she was conscious, the both of them were hundreds of miles away from Cheyenne Mountain. C) what the hell had happened to her? She honestly couldn't remember. Could it possibly be all the happy place drugs coursing through her veins? Even taking into account the really nice drugs, you'd think she would remember what had landed her in the hospital.

"Kat, I can hear you thinking, actually, I can see you thinking. You might as well relax. You've still got fifty minutes to go, so just lay there and think happy thoughts. You'll be up and back on duty before you know it." Eileen made eye contact with her friend and shrugged. "Well, ok. It'll be a while before you're back on any kind of duty again. We'll talk just as soon as you're able. I promise."

Eileen understood just how frustrating it was to be unable to communicate. It was one of the most frustrating things in the world. But she couldn't tell her anything, at least not yet. She didn't dare get her upset until she was off of the vent. Then, Sadie bar the door. As a matter of fact, she was looking forward to the time when they would be able to let off a little steam and actually have some fun. It'd been ages since they had felt like they could be themselves. Thanks to Doctor Dick. Eileen grinned. Doctor Dick was about to get some of his own medicine.

Kat slowly turned her head to face her friend. She was missing something. And from the way that her entire body hurt, it was something pretty big. She continued to wrack her brain. It was in there somewhere. She just needed to remember something and the rest would come. It might take her mind off of the tube in her mouth. Yeah, like that was going to happen. Ok, focus. Let's see, where to start? Ok, this last posting, the armpit of the world. She'd take Iraq to the little hell hole she called home now a days. She remembered the good and the bad. Her good friend Eileen was posted there when she arrived. That was great! She had met a nice young nurse, jeez, what was her name? She'd met so many people over the last twenty years. Think Kat, what's her name? She has a cute little girl. Elaine! Yeah, she rocked! What's her daughter's name? Think, think, think. She suddenly had a flash of Winnie the Pooh, finger tapping, saying over and over in his Winnie the Pooh voice, which just happened to be Sterling Holloway's voice. O-Kay, now she felt old. And more than a little Alzheimery. Was that a word? Well now it was. If only in her poor dented head. Now what the heck was it she was trying to remember? Maybe some more drugs would help. Yeah, that sounded about right. She would have heaved a huge sigh if she had been able to. Unfortunately, she couldn't. So she did the only thing she could and banged the back of her so called good arm against the safety rails of her bed. Yeah, that made a satisfying banging noise. She felt better already.

Eileen had been writing in Kat's chart and jumped when Kat thumped the rail on her bed. She put the chart down and approached Kat's bed carefully. You never knew when she'd find a weapon of some sort and fling it your way.

"Need something? Need to be suctioned? Or just a sitrep?"

Kat just blinked at her. /What did she want her to say? Why yes Eileen, please suction my tube? And while you're at it, could you fluff my pillows? And take this stupid piece of plastic out of my throat already!/

"You're doing fine by the way. You've managed to get through fifteen minutes. You're a quarter of the way there. Now really, did you need suctioning?"

/Good grief Eileen! What do you want me to do? Charades? Get me a pencil and paper you nit! Wait, she was right handed. That hand was encased in a cast. And if she wasn't mistaken, her right clavicle wasn't too happy either. Well, wasn't that just peachy. She was crap at writing left handed./

"Here, go to you're happy place while I suction you. You'll feel better." Eileen pulled the cart with the suction machine closer to her head. Kat quickly squeezed her eyes tightly shut and attempted to go to her happy place. While she pictured a nice quiet pond on a pleasantly warm day she could nonetheless hear the suction machine kick in. She tried to picture herself laid back in a nice little rowboat, on a nice soft pad on the bottom of the boat. The little boat gently rocked with the quiet splash of gentle waves against the sides of the little boat. Snick snick snick. She could almost feel the slight cooling and dimming as nice soft clouds intermittently crossed in front of the sun in the nice blue sky. She was almost there.

"There, all done. That should be better. Why don't you take a little nappy pooh. It'll make the time pass more quickly." Eileen's soft soled medical clogs quietly moved a little distance away.

/Nappy pooh? Did she really just say that? You are so going to pay my little friend. Oh hell, who was she kidding. Eileen was a good six to twelve inches taller than she was. Still, she could be creative. She'd find a way to exact her pay back. Mentally rubbing her hands together and doing an evil villain laugh, bwahaha, she began to plot her revenge./

Forty-five minutes later she awoke. Hmmm. They hadn't given her anything. She knew they needed her to be able to breathe more or less easily on her own. And the only way to see if she could do that, was to have her more or less conscious. She heard several pairs of shoes approaching. She cracked her eyes open to check her surroundings. Not too bad, though she did blink several times trying to bring her world into focus. That accomplished, she tried to eaves drop on the voices approaching her bed. She could make out Eileen and Janet. And someone else she didn't recognize. Janet stopped on her right and Eileen and the unknown woman were on her left.

"Hey Kathleen," the unknown voice said. "I'm Dr. Stanton. I'm your pulmonary specialist. How about we take that nasty ole tube out now? That okay with you?"

Kat tried to turn to her left. She gave a quick nod and closed her eyes to prepare herself.

"Ok Kathleen, breathe out when I tell you, ok? Now, one. two. three. breathe out. As Kat tried to breathe out and expel the hated tube, she realized she didn't feel anything. Except for the pressure easing on her lip. "Ok, that nasty old thing is out. Don't take a deep breath, just a nice normal one." Kat tried an experimental breath. Oh bliss! She inhaled and exhaled, and inhaled again. It was the best thing she had ever felt. Sex was definitely overrated. But then, most people didn't live their lives on ventilators. She filed that information away, knowing it made her appreciate what her patients went through just that little bit more. She opened her mouth to thank the doctor, but absolutely nothing came out. Not even a sigh. That was annoying. But, who cared really? She was off the vent and breathing on her own.

"How about we raise your head a little Kat?" Janet asked as she pressed the button to raise her friends head. "There, that should make it easier for you to breathe. Any pain? Ok, scratch that. I know you're in pain. Do you need another hit of happy juice?" Kat knew Janet was smiling when she said that. She nodded her head slowly in affirmation. "Ok, here you go. You should feel a nice spreading warmth soon. It's not a heavy dose, just enough to knock the edge off. I need you awake for a couple of hours, ok?" Kat watched silently as Janet turned to the other doctor. "Thanks for your help Linda, I know Kat thanks you too. You're invited to girls night out just as soon as we all get a night off."

"That is a date Jan. I don't even remember my last night off. I'm going to hold you to that. See you later Kat. I've gotta run. I'm due at the Academy hospital, I've got rounds to do over there. I'm glad I was here and able to help out. Give me a call later and let me know what her stats are ok? Bye." Kat could hear "Linda" walking away. So far so good. Ah, she could feel every muscle relaxing as the morphine kicked in. Good shit. She experimentally tried to whisper, and still nothing came out. Interesting. Actually, she didn't care one little bit. She felt herself sinking back into the mattress. Yep, may not last long, but definitely some good shit.

Kat woke to a feeling of "bustling" around her bed. She quickly oriented herself and blinked her eyes open. It looked like they were getting ready to transfer her to another room. Cool beans!

"Dr. Frasier, sleeping beauty is awake."

/ Funny Eileen. You're just digging yourself in deeper./

"Welcome back Kat, you seem to have lost your morphine resistance. You were out like a light. Feel better after your nap?"

Kat swallowed dryly.

"Yes," she croaked. Whoopee, success. "What happened?" she cleared her throat and swallowed again. "How and when did I get here? Why did I get here?" her mouth felt like cotton. "Water?" she asked hoarsely. Janet signaled Eileen and walked closer to Kat.

"You were in a training accident. Do you remember?"

/Well duh! Didn't I just say I didn't?/

"No, I don't remember. I asked you first."

Eileen returned with a plastic cup of water with a straw in it.

"Here Kat. Little sips." Eileen tilted the cup towards Kat and held it for her. She took several slow swallows and pulled back a little. Eileen took the cup away and put it on a tray. Janet walked closer to the bed so Kat could see her.

"Anna Kathleen Bergman, be nice. We'll talk after we get you settled in the ward. I might actually need this space for someone who really needs it. I hope not, but you know how it is. Eileen, go round up a corpsman to help move Miss smarty pants. Oops, you don't have pants on do you? Miss almost "nekkid" ." Janet snorted. Sometimes she cracked herself up. Could be she just needed some sleep. Or some time off. Now that would be great!

"Dr. Frasier to General Hammonds office, Dr. Frasier to General Hammonds office."

/Well shoot, there went their reunion. And it was going so well./

"I have to go Kat, I'll be back to see you and go over your condition as soon as I can. I can't keep generals waiting, even for you." Janet leaned in, picked up Kat's left hand, and squeezed it softly. "I'm really glad you're going to be ok. I've missed you, you know. Eileen will be right back. I'll see you later." Janet squeezed her hand again and left.

/Huh, that was nice. She wondered what was up with the general? What was his name? She should be able to remember it. She had just heard it after all. Well crap, it didn't really matter. She settled in again and thought happy thoughts.


	7. Chapter 7

Silent Screams In The Night Chapter 7

Jack was on his second bottle of Guinness when Scott waved him up to the bar. About damn time he thought, I'm starving. He waved back to Scott, tipped his chair forward and stood up. Ouch, his knees weren't getting any younger. Where was a damned sarcophagus when you needed one? As Jack approached the bar his cell rang again. He pulled it from his pocket and checked the caller id. It was Hammond, he definitely had to answer it. He held his phone up so Scott could see it, then put it to his ear.

"O'Neill."

"Jack, I've been called to the Pentagon. You're going to have to come back and assume command." Jack frowned in annoyance.

"You really want me to leave Maybourne here alone Sir?" Hammond snorted his answer.

"Not really my first choice colonel, but I have to leave the base. That means you need to be here." Jack quickly considered his options.

"Actually sir, I may have someone that can help out. I have a friend that helped me get Daniel back from Nicaragua, his name's Burke. He just loves to help out. The crazier the mission the better he likes it. He tends to get bored easily. I'll give Carter a call and get things rolling. When do you leave sir?"

I have a flight out in an hour. Colonel Reynolds will be in command until you get back. You need to hop a flight back ASAP. Sergeant Harriman will call with your flight information."

"Yes sir, have a good flight. Oh, and say hi to the President for me sir." Hammond snorted into the phone.

"Just try to keep Maybourne under control colonel. And this Burke, are you sure about him?" Jack winced.

"Yes sir. I'll call Carter as soon as we disconnect."

"I'll be in touch colonel. Take care of my base." And Hammond hung up. Jack closed his phone and hurried up to the bar.

"Sorry Scott. I couldn't ignore that call."

"No problem Jack. I just phoned in your other order. Sorry it took so long, they're really busy tonight." Jack handed over the cash for his order.

"Nothing you can do about it." Jack collected his food and went back to his table. Flipping open his phone he hit speed dial for Carter.

xxx

As soon as he disconnected with Carter he started in on his supper. He had a little time to kill, might as well eat his now lukewarm dinner. Jack took a spoonful of soup and smiled in appreciation. It was really good. His phone beeped again and Jack rolled his eyes is disgust.

"What!"

"Jack, what's taking so long with my dinner? How am I supposed to accomplish our mission if you don't feed me?"

"Maybourne, you are a giant pain in my ass. I'm still waiting for your order. The kitchen's busy tonight. Now stop your whining, I'll be there as soon as I can. And there's been a change in plans. I've been recalled to the mountain." Jack could picture a gleeful Maybourne on the other end of the call.

"Really Jack? That's a shame. I know how much you wanted to be in on the take down."

"Cut it Maybourne," Jack growled. "I know you think you're off your leash. But you should really know better by now. I just put in a call to Carter. She's going to line up a hop for me, and a leash holder for you."

"Jack, I'm hurt. Why do I get the feeling you don't trust me? And after all we've been through together."

"So not helping your cause any Maybourne. Let's count the times you've shot me, shall we? Now hang up so I can drink my beer in peace." Harry laughed into the phone.

"You're awfully grumpy without Carter Jack. When are you going to get smart and do something about her." Harry taunted.

"Shut up Maybourne…" Jack growled into the phone. "Just do what we're paying you to, and quit talking while you're behind." Jack snapped his phone shut disconnecting the call. One of these days Harry, you're going to go too far. Hell, the man had made a career of going too far.

xxx

Sam was doing a search on her computer when Daniel strolled into her lab. Daniel walked up beside her and peered at the screen.

"Daniel, do you know anything about a man called Burke? The colonel asked me to track him down and make arrangements for him to baby sit Maybourne." Daniel rocked back on his heels. Oh yeah, he remembered Burke. He figured Bill did too!

"Yeah, he's a CIA agent that helped Jack track down Bill and me in Nicaragua. Burke and Jack have a history. Kinda reminded me of the thing with Cromwell." Sam looked at Daniel with concern clearly written on her face.

"Daniel, why would he ask for Burke if there's bad blood between them? Cromwell died." Daniel shook his head negatively.

"No, Jack and Burke came to an understanding. I don't really know what it was, but they parted on good terms. And Burke saved all our asses." Sam turned back to her laptop and began typing again.

"Okay, well, I have a contact number here. Guess I better get on it. General Hammond is leaving for Washington and he asked me to track this guy down. Walter will make the plane reservations and such. But I'm supposed to make first contact with Burke bring him up to speed." Daniel pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Yeah well, good luck with that. Have you ever noticed that Jack has very unusual…" Daniel made air quotes, "friends? I mean, even here at the SGC." Sam just gave Daniel a well duh! look. Daniel raised his hands to ward off any comments.

"Point made. I'll just leave you to it then. Track me down when you finish up. I want you to look at something in my lab." Sam smiled.

"Sure, it'll be nice to get back to business as usual. Pretty weird huh?"

"No comment Sam. See you later." Sam turned back to her laptop as Daniel left her lab. Cool, she had a hit on Burke. Whoa! Daniel was right. Burke's checkered past was very interesting. Sill, if the colonel trusted him, that was good enough for her. Sam jotted down contact information and walked to her wall phone. She hoped Burke was home.

xxx

Jack walked back to the room with Harry's dinner. He figured Hammond was on his way to Peterson by now. Carter had called, and Burke was on his way. He wasn't sure he had made the right call on Burke. But he figured he could give as good as he got with Maybourne. They were petty evenly matched. Both were good at thinking outside the box. Jack snorted, way outside the box. Jack tried juggling parcels and gave up and kicked the door of their room. A few minutes later Maybourne cracked the door open. He opened the door wider and snatched the food from Jack's hands.

"About time Jack. What, did you have to plant it, grow it, and harvest it before cooking it?" Harry spread the food boxes on the small table. "God I'm starving! What took so long to get a burger?" Jack spread his hands wide and tried to look innocent.

"You got it as soon as I did. What did you turn up while I was gone?" Harry dug into his burger and swallowed a couple of mouthfuls before even trying to answering. He swallowed some fries and took a long pull from his drink.

"It's lining up pretty good. The CO is a jerk, even to me. He reminds me a lot of Kinsey." Jack shivered.

"Eeuuww! Now I have to take a shower. Seriously, the guys that bad?" Even with all of his experiences in the military, Jack was surprised to see a CO that bad in the modern military mindset.

"So, no problem setting up a sting for him and his minions?"

"Nope. I can do it blindfolded."

"Harry, we need to talk about the change in players." Harry watched Jack while he ate. "I told you I have to head back to the mountain. I have a man flying in. His name is Burke. He reports to me. You follow his orders. He's a little nuts, so don't mess with him. He'll laugh while he shoots you. Understand?"

"Yeah Jack, I get the picture. I'm hurt, you don't trust me." Jack couldn't help himself, he clenched his hands and rolled his eyes.

"You'll get over it. I've gotta pack, finish your dinner. You can fill me in between mouthfuls." Harry just grinned. The kind of grin that made you check your pockets and look over your shoulder. Maybe Harry and Burke weren't such a good idea after all.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Jack's memories of Afghanistan and Iraq were not happy ones. As a matter of fact, he would be pleased to never hear of those places ever again. In retrospect, he should have known better. His own personal demons always seemed to hide until he was least expecting them, then they would jump out and bite him in the ass. He hadn't thought of Kathleen in years. That was a shame really, because she was good people. You could count on Kathleen to watch your six. When everything went to hell in a hand basket, there she was, picking up the pieces, so you could go out and do it all over again. Thing was, he had pulled her ass out of the fire first. She had been a mess. Her chopper had been shot down, all of the crew and injured had died, except for her and another medic. Turned out they were married, but not for very long. They had worked together for years, and suddenly decided it was a good idea to get married. She was a widow before she knew it. Kathleen and her husband had survived the crash, but were taken by the Taliban. Better off dead really. They had been tortured for weeks, months actually, and in the end, she was the lone survivor. She very nearly hadn't. In fact she was already dead, she just didn't know it. He had gotten her out and carried her back to where choppers could pick them up. He had seen her taken into the field hospital before he turned to report in. The next time he had seen her, she saved_ his_ ass. It was after that nasty little parachute incident. Yeah, she had looked like an angel to him then. Partly because he had never known whether she had even survived her _own_ little trip to hell and back.

The next time he had seen her was after _his_ four month stay with the Taliban. Jesus those guys were freaking nuts! She had kept him alive on his flight back to civilization. That was the last he had seen or heard of her. And then there she is, on his doorstep, out of the blue, needing help. Again. They just kept falling in and out of each others lives. And finding out Frasier knew her. Huh. They said it was a small world, and cliché that it was, he was beginning to believe it. I mean really. First it was Cromwell, then Burke, and now Kathleen. He hoped she did better than Cromwell had.

He figured Teal'c was keeping watch over her, she couldn't be safer. Well, maybe if it was _him_ keeping watch. So, now he had Maybourne and Burke on the same team. Working _for_ him; to burn the scum sucking leaches that had almost killed one of the finest medics it had been his misfortune to know. OK, that didn't sound right even in his head. But he figured Kathleen would laugh it off, if she ever found out. And he so wasn't going to be the one to tell her. She had a crazy sense of humor, very dark and sarcastic. Maybe that was why they got along so well. If she came out of this ok, he could easily see her at the SGC. She'd fit right in. Then too, she and doc would probably corrupt _his_ major. Hmm, he'd better keep an extra careful watch on Carter. Like that was a hard thing to do. Hmm… He shifted in his seat, think nasty thoughts Jack. General Hammond at a nudist camp. Maybourne at a nudist camp. Oh god, Burke at a nudist camp, all three of them hanging out together. Literally. Yep, that did it.

"Colonel O'Neill, we're on final approach to Peterson. The tower said to tell you there's a car waiting for you."

"Thanks captain. It's been a good flight." Jack straightened in his seat, feeling his joints creak from sitting in one position for so long. He was getting too old for this shit.

Kathleen heard a lot of raucous noise as she woke up. Time for a little under cover eaves dropping. SG 12 and 13 had just gotten back from a mission. They were definitely happy to be back. There was talk of weapons fire, who did what to whom, who saved who's ass, etc. The fastest way to learn about a command was to be a fly on the wall. You got all the dish on what was going on on the base. And if no one realized you were there, you got the real morale and attitude of the command. This group was promising. They were in good humor, a little off color, but not in a bad way, and pretty relaxed. Not at all like her last command. Which made her wonder when she'd remember what the heck had happened to her. Oh crap. She had to pee. Since they had removed her catheter, she had to get someone to help her up and to the bathroom. So much for being inconspicuous. Opening her eyes and blinking at the light, she started sliding her hands around looking for the call button. Crap, crap, crap!! She couldn't find it. She tried to move around a little, and that was a bad idea. She didn't find the button, she had to pee even more, and she hurt. Getting up was going to be a bitch! Well, it looked like she was going to have to holler.

"Hell-oo? Anybody? Hey, I need some help over here. Hel-lo? Anyone?"

"Hey doc, your patient over there is hollering for some help. I can wait, see what she wants." Captain Murphy grinned as he continued…"She sounds a little desperate, better make it quick!" Janet nodded at Murphy and headed for Kat's bed. She pulled the curtain aside and grinned at Kat.

"Good to see you awake. Do you need pain meds? We're a little busy right now." Kat rolled her eyes.

"I need to pee in the worst way. In fact, I don't know if I can even sit up without wetting myself. And yeah, I tried to move looking for the call button. It must be time for my next dose. But I am **so** going to wet the bed any second now."

"OK, I'll get your next dose and then have someone put you on a bed pan. Hopefully you can get up next time. A little more warning please." Kat frowned.

"I can't help it. I just woke up and it's an emergency. I'll probably overflow the bedpan. You keep pumping me full of fluids." Janet turned and stuck her head and shoulders though the privacy curtain. She snagged the closest nurse and pulled her inside the curtain.

"I need a bedpan stat, and the major's next dose of pain meds. Bedpan first, and try to keep it quiet. We don't need to advertise what's going on in here. The nurse nodded and slipped back through the curtain.

"That's Nancy, she'll take good care of you. I have to get back to the post mission exams. Tell Nancy anything that you need. She'll get it for you. OK?" Janet waited approximately two seconds for a response and disappeared through the curtain.

Kat groaned in frustration. "Good bye to you too Janet!" SG's12 and 13 grinned. Whoever the chick behind the curtain was, she wasn't shy. "Hey Nancy, hurry the hell up! Or I won't be responsible for the outcome." Nurse Nancy actually blushed as she pushed her little cart toward the curtained off area.

"Stop harassing my nurses Major." Janet yelled back. "Use that brilliant self control I've heard so much about." The group of Marines waiting for their exams couldn't believe their ears. Was someone daring to talk back to Frasier? The only other person they knew of was Col. O'Neill. And even he backed down eventually.

"I wouldn't have to harass them if they were more efficient." Total silence reigned. Janet straightened, took a deep breath, and let loose.

"Anna Kathleen Bergmann. Behave yourself. Just because you have to pee is no reason to take it out on my staff. Now shut up and be patient. We're busy here." The Marines looked uneasily from one to the other. This was different. The next sound to be heard was a grunt and crash, followed by a moan. Oh boy. The shit just hit the fan. Frasier and two female nurses rushed to the curtained bed. Oh, if only they would pull the curtains so they could watch. This was really going to be something.

Kat lay on the cold infirmary floor. Shit! Shit! Shit! She had meant to get up and limp to a bathroom, any bathroom. But, it didn't quite work out that way. She had managed to sit up and drag her legs to the side of the bed. Difficult, painful, but do-able. The problem came when she tried to stand up. She didn't. Her legs buckled and she went straight to the floor, landing in a pile of limbs, bedding, and the tray items she had upset onto the floor. The pain was unbelievable. But the worst part of it all was that her bladder had let loose when she hit the floor. This would be a really good time to pass out. No such luck. As the nurses and Janet pushed the curtains aside, she was grateful she had fallen on the far side of the bed. The only people that would see her bare ass sticking up in the air were medical personnel. However, lying in a puddle of urine was just totally humiliating.

"Anna Kathleen, you have just put yourself on report! Of all the stupid, hare brained, idiotic, imbecilic …" As Janet passed through the curtain, the yelling ceased. As one unit, SG's 12 and 13 leaned toward the train wreck in progress. They couldn't help it. Whoever she was, God help her. Frasier was pissed. No one with any sense of self preservation pissed off Frasier. And lived to not regret it.

As Janet cleared the curtain, she saw an empty bed, which was what she had expected. As she rounded the end of the bed, she found Kat on the floor, which she also expected. She couldn't help it. Even with her concern over what damage Kat had done to herself, the scene before her was priceless. Kat was a jumble of casts, bedding, bare ass, and everything around her damp. Served her right.

"Jeez Kat, did you really have to go and make such a big mess? Now we have to get you bathed and gowned, then run you through x-ray again. Nancy, is Teal'c out there?"

"Yes mam."

"Go get him please."

"Mam?"

"Don't ask questions, just get him."

"Yes mam!" Nancy swung through the curtains to freedom.

"And bring me 30 mg of Roxanol stat."

"Yes mam."

Teal'c had just come back into the infirmary when things had gone crazy. A nurse approached him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him toward AnnaKathleen's bed.

"Dr. Frasier needs you Teal'c. Go right in." Teal'c inclined his head and proceeded through the curtains. He found Dr. Frasier squatting down next to AnnaKathleen, who was lying on the floor. His eyebrow jumped upwards. Curious.

"I am here Dr.Frasier. How may I assist you?" Janet looked over her shoulder and smiled at Teal'c.

"Teal'c, would you pick Kathleen up and place her on the bed?" Teal'c merely inclined his head toward the doctor. Janet stood up and backed out of the way. Teal'c approached Kat and carefully turned her onto her back.

"Do not concern yourself AnnaKathleen. I will replace you on your bed." Teal 'c slid one arm under her shoulders and the other under her legs. He straightened and placed her carefully on the bed. Kat did her best to remain silent, but she couldn't help the groans that escaped.

"I suggest you follow DrFrasier's instructions. Even O'neill has learned to do so." Kat couldn't help it. Her eyes widened as she took in the big man. Big? He was huge! She nodded her head in affirmation, which seemed to please the big man. "I will wait outside. I will come if you have need of me." Teal'c silently turned and walked back outside the curtained area.

"Who was that?" Kat whispered. Janet couldn't help but grin.

"That my dear, is our very own resident Jaffa, Teal'c. I suggest you don't make him angry." Kat swung huge blue eyes toward Janet.

**"**No shit!"

"Now, we need to have a little talk…"

"Janet, I'm sorry. I really really had to pee. I couldn't wait any more."

"So you tried to get up and walk to the bathroom?"

"Yeah."

"With a broken leg?" Kat blushed.

"Um, yeah."

"All by yourself?"

"I said I was sorry."

"Still have to pee?" Kat sighed.

"No."

"Hurt a lot?"

"Yeah."

"Was it worth it?"

"I don't know. At least I don't have to pee any more." Janet scowled. A nurse appeared through the curtains and handed Janet a medicine cup. Janet checked the dosage and handed it to Kat.

"Take it. Swallow it." Kat accepted the medicine and swallowed it down.

"I'll have someone come in and clean you up. And then off to x-ray for you. God knows what more damage you've done to yourself. Please, please, try to behave yourself." Kat nodded her head.

"Ok."

"And don't argue with me on base. Undermines my authority and all that." Kat sighed.

"Ok, I wasn't thinking about anything but pain and needing to pee so badly that my bladder hurt. I'll try to do better. I promise."

"Why doesn't that reassure me?" Janet sighed. "Did you remember anything yet?"

"No. It'll come back though. It always does. Go back to your exams. I'm uncomfortable and damp, but I'll live. As a matter of fact, I think I'll take a little nap while I wait." and just like that, Kat was out cold. Janet pulled a blanket over her friend, and walked out to finish up with the marines. She passed an orderly with a mop bucket headed for Kat's cubicle, and couldn't help a smug grin. She had black mail material on Kat. And she wasn't afraid to use it. In fact, she quite looked forward for any excuse to do just that.


End file.
